Puerto Rico’s Coronavirus Statistics for September 21

According to the Puerto Rico Health Department, 42,476 people are believed to have been infected with COVID-19, an increase of 4,726 since last week. This increase is more than double the number recorded between September 7 and September 14, during which 2,195 new cases were recorded. The death toll is currently 609, with 542 of those having occurred in the week between September 7 and September 14.

Beginning on June 11, the Health Department changed the way it recorded cases, splitting them between confirmed cases (as determined by molecular diagnostic testing) and probable cases (as determined by serological, non-diagnostic testing). Viewed through that prism, Puerto Rico currently has 20,311 confirmed cases of COVID-19 (an increase of 2,334 over the past week) and 22,165 probable cases (an increase of 2,392 over the past week).

There are currently 386 people hospitalized due to COVID. Given Puerto Rico’s increasing case numbers and deaths—more people died in the first half of September than they did in the entire month of July— it is feared the recent efforts to reopen the economy, are likely to increase the number of cases even more.

Joe Biden Releases Statement on Hurricane Maria’s Third Anniversary, Ties U.S. Response to Current COVID Response 

Former vice president and current Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden released a statement on Sunday, commemorating the third anniversary of Hurricane Maria and calling President Donald Trump’s “botched” response “a terrible precursor to COVID-19.”

“The current President and his Administration have only made the suffering worse, with years of neglect and contempt toward Puerto Rico. While families and communities banded together, Donald Trump lied about relief, blocked aid, and mocked survivors. He blamed the island for its loss,” reads the statement, which adds that “there is no place in the United States to ever treat any of our own citizens as second-class.”

Biden’s statement comes a week after his campaign released its Plan for the Recovery, Renewal, and Respect for Puerto Rico. The document outlines four different goals: supporting “a full recovery and infrastructure” with measures such as ensuring that disaster-relief loans are forgiven; providing “economic development initiatives and support for families”; providing relief from “unsustainable” debt; and expanding access to education and workforce development via investment in public schools and higher education. 

FEMA Approves $12.8 billion for Electric Grid Repairs, Schools

Nearly three years after Hurricane Maria devastated the Island, FEMA has agreed to provide nearly $12.8 billion to reconstruct Puerto Rico’s power grid and schools. According to the White House, the two grants—which should have been ready by October 2019— “exceed the total Public Assistance funding in any single federally-declared disaster other than Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy.”

Provided under Section 428 of the Stafford Act, the two grants include more than $9.45 billion for the power grid, considerably less than the $16 billion initially requested by the Puerto Rican government. These funds are separate from the $2 billion already spent by FEMA on the grid, and from the $1.93 billion assigned under the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery program. 

While the process to secure the grants was delayed by nearly a year, President Donald Trump wasted little time in claiming credit for the grants, declaring in a press conference that he is “the best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico.”

House Natural Resources Committee to Hold Hearings on Puerto Rico Status

This Friday, September 25, the House Natural Resources Committee will hold a two-panel hearing titled Puerto Rico’s Options for a Non-Territory Status and What Should Happen After November’s Plebiscite. The hearing is set to “feature testimony from several experts on how to resolve Puerto Rico’s political status with proper input from the Puerto Rican people” and will be led remotely by Committee chairman Raúl Grijalva.

Witnesses will include: Annette Martínez Orabona of the Caribbean Institute of Human Rights; Christina D. Ponsa-Krause of Columbia Law School; Efrén Rivera Ramos of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law; Rafael Cox Alomar of the University of the District of Columbia School of Law; Annabel Guillen, president of Igualdad Futuro Seguro; Alexandra Lúgaro, cofounder of the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana; Juan Dalmau, senator for the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP); Carlos Delgado Altieri, president of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP); and Pedro Pierluisi, president of the New Progressive Party and current candidate for Puerto Rico’s governorship.