Puerto Rico coronavirus statistics for December 14

According to the Puerto Rico Health Department, 110,429 people are believed to have been infected with COVID-19, an increase of 9,001 since December 7, when the total was 101,428. This points to a substantial spike in the rate of new cases, as the increase between November 30 (when the total was 93,462) and December 7 was 7,966. The rate of deaths decreased slightly with the death toll currently at 1,282, with 79 of those having occurred in the last week. Comparatively, 97 people died from the virus between November 30 and December 7.

Puerto Rico reached the 100,000-case mark on Sunday, December 6.

Beginning on November 7, the Health Department changed the way it recorded cases, splitting them between confirmed cases (as determined by molecular diagnostic testing), probable cases (as determined by antigen testing) and suspicious cases (as determined by serological, non-diagnostic testing). Viewed through that prism, Puerto Rico has had 60,348 confirmed cases, 2,637 probable cases, and 47,444 suspicious cases since the virus arrived on the Island.

There are currently 609 people hospitalized due to COVID. 

With the first COVID vaccine now authorized by the FDA, Puerto Rico is expected to obtain its first doses this week with distribution assigned to the National Guard. Meanwhile, skepticism abounds about the government’s ability to properly carry out its distribution strategy, given its management of past crises. “The Puerto Rican government has had many problems in the last few years in executing complex missions, and one of the things that has become clear during the pandemic is that we need a government with the ability to execute complex missions,” said Sergio Marxuach, public policy director for the Center for a New Economy (CNE). Additionally, several of Puerto Rico’s mayors have called upon the central government to be allowed to participate in the distribution process. 

House Natural Resources Committee calls on FOMB to account for renewable energy decisions

In a December 7 letter to Natalie Jaresko, executive director of the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB), House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) called on the board to explain its August 17, 2020 decision to halt existing agreements between the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and sixteen renewable energy companies. 

While the letter expresses understanding for the need to adjust terms and conditions in contracts, it also expresses reservations about the methods used by the FOMB in reaching its decision. “It is unclear whether the FOMB’s determination considers important financial, economic, and social factors,” the letter states, before suggesting additional criteria to be considered, such as federal renewable energy goals and the fines associated with not meeting them, job creation, investment, and eventual savings.

According to PREPA, the halted agreements would have saved the public corporation around $1 billion.

Natural Resources Committee urges Biden for quick implementation of stated Puerto Rico policies 

Members of the House Natural Resources Committee wrote to President-elect Joe Biden last week “to underscore the importance of the new administration addressing the needs of the 3.2 million U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico and to respectfully request a rapid implementation of the Biden-Harris priorities for the island.” Making reference to the Biden-Harris campaign’s Plan for Recovery, Renewal and Respect for Puerto Rico, the letter calls for the creation of a federal working group to provide “advice to the President and the Congress on policies and initiatives for Puerto Rico’s fiscal recovery and disaster reconstruction.” Additional measures cited by the House members include addressing the issue of Puerto Rico’s status, support for a full recovery and infrastructure reconstruction, and relief from the Island’s debt. President-Elect Biden has expressed his support for each of these items. 

More than three years after María, thousands of reconstruction projects remain in limbo

Nearly forty months after Hurricane Maria, there are still roughly 5,700 infrastructure reconstruction projects without funds assigned or set aside for their development, according to FEMA. “FEMA, COR3 [the Central Office of Recovery, Reconstruction and Resiliency] and the applicants are working together to compile the documentation required to make the projects move forward,” wrote Juan Andrés Muñoz, a FEMA external affairs official for Puerto Rico in a statement.

Ordinarily, each of the reconstruction initiatives require a review process before providing the money enabling the work to proceed. Such reviews and estimates are still pending for many of the delayed projects. Smaller projects were meant to have these reviews and estimates completed by the end of this year, but this will not actually happen. FEMA, instead of issuing a general extension, now will issue extensions for individual projects, further complicating the process; the agency, however, assures that projects will eventually receive funds.