COVID-19 pandemic in Guatemala | |
---|---|
Disease | COVID-19 |
Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
Location | Guatemala |
First outbreak | Wuhan, China |
Index case | Guatemala City |
Arrival date | 13 March 2020 (4 years, 2 months and 1 week) |
Confirmed cases | 1,342[1][2] |
Active cases | 719 |
Suspected cases‡ | 11500 |
Recovered | 121[2] |
Deaths | 29[2] |
Total ILI cases | 554 |
Government website | |
www | |
‡Suspected cases have not been confirmed by laboratory tests as being due to this strain, although some other strains may have been ruled out. |
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Guatemala in March 2020.
On 13 March 2020, the first case in Guatemala, a Guatemalan man who traveled from Italy to Guatemala, was confirmed.[3]
On 13 March 2020, the Guatemalan government extended its travel restrictions to travelers from the US and Canada.[4] Starting on 16 March, no travelers coming from these countries were allowed to enter Guatemala, until March 31.
On 15 March 2020, the Guatemalan government confirmed its second case and the first COVID-19 death in the country, an 85-year-old man who arrived from Madrid with his family nine days earlier.[5]
On April 23, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights called on Mexican and Central American governments to stop deportations during the coronavirus pandemic. 2,500 migrants were stuck in Panama because Honduras had closed its border. Mexico dumped migrants in Guatemala, but Guatemala did not let them in. On April 23 the organization helped 41 migrants return to El Salvador from Mexico.[6]