Puerto Rico coronavirus statistics for May 10

According to the Puerto Rico Health Department, 256,466 people are believed to have been infected with COVID-19, an increase of 6,036 since May 3. This points to a continuing decrease in the rate of new cases. The death toll is currently 2,374, with 59 of those registered in the last week. Comparatively, 50 people died from the virus between April 26 and May 3.

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 119,494 confirmed cases, 16,049 probable cases, and 120,923 suspicious cases since the virus arrived on the Island. There are currently 305 people hospitalized due to COVID, a decrease of 84 since last week. 

Governor Pedro Pierluisi tweeted on Sunday that Puerto Rico passed the milestone of 1,000,000 people being fully vaccinated. However, according to El Nuevo Día,this claim was not backed by any official sources. In fact, according to the CDC on the Island, the number of fully vaccinated Puerto Rico residents was 910,956. According to the Puerto Rico Electric Immunization System (PREIS), used by the Puerto Rico Health Department to collate data regarding the virus, 936,015 people completed their vaccinations by the time Pierluisi made his claim; while the Health Department estimated that there were some 165,519 vaccinations yet to be recorded in the system, it was not clear how many of those represented first vaccines and how many represented final vaccinations. 

One obstacle to full vaccination is the fact that many people between the ages of 19 to 40 have not been vaccinated—not necessarily because of fear, but rather due to a lack of time, access, or both. A high number of individuals, experts note, fail to keep their appointments to obtain the second shot.

Murder of two young women is latest reminder of Puerto Rico’s gender-based violence crisis

Earlier this year, Governor Pedro Pierluisi declared a state of emergency on the Island relating to its current wave of gender-based violence. The topic has remained on the public consciousness, and has shaped a debate on introducing a gender perspective to educational curricula. The crisis was bought to the forefront this month by the stories of Keishla Rodríguez Ortiz, a 27-year-old woman who was found murdered days after being reported missing, and of Andrea Ruiz Costas, a woman who had been murdered by her former partner despite her attempts to obtain legal protection against him. 

However, it is not only cis women who are placed at risk by gender-based violence. As reported by USA Today, Puerto Rico is also a hotspot for transphobic violence, with six trans people killed in the Island in 2020, out of 44 in the United States as a whole. Of these cases, only one resulted in an arrest, and that was carried out by federal, not local, authorities.

Puerto Rico House of Representatives hits the brakes on LUMA contract

Rafael “Tatito” Hernández, Speaker of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, presented a new obstacle to the approval of the contract to allow the energy contractor LUMA Energy to manage the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA). Last week, the legislator sent a letter to the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) indicating that the House of Representatives would not approve any joint resolution allowing LUMA Energy to begin operations, at least until the numerous concerns associated with the contract are resolved. The employees’ union, UTIER, has called for a strike tomorrow.

On April 27, the House of Representatives was tasked with providing the FOMB with a special budget including $750 million, required in the LUMA contract and drawn from the General Fund. This budget had been due on the day Rep. Hernández sent the FOMB his letter, which claimed that the contract worked “against the best interest of Puerto Rico’s government and people.” Although the LUMA Contract to restructure PREPA has been a source of controversy in Puerto Rico, it was ultimately certified by Judge Laura Taylor Swain on May 3.