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This Thursday it became known that the United States deported to Colombia some 24 nationals who were sick with the coronavirus.
The Colombians arrived on a flight to the country on March 30, along with 40 other people returned to the country for immigrating illegally or with judicial problems.
However, back then it was not known that these people had the disease.
(Also read: New York: Decaying Bodies Found in Moving Trucks)
According to US government sources quoted by the Reuters agency, Colombians took their temperature to determine if they had signs of the disease.
However, they were not tested to detect the presence of the coronavirus in people. In fact, the deportees were diagnosed with the disease once they were in Colombian territory.
A week ago the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. USA (ICE) had to commit to carrying out tests on deportees to other countries as several have tested positive once they arrive in their countries of origin. Among them Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico and Jamaica.
What is the history of this flight?
The US flight USA with the 64 Colombians he left a detention center for illegals in Alexandria, Louisiana, and was returned to United States citizens who were unable to leave the country before the veto on international flights came into force.
(Context notice: Deported who arrived from the US will spend isolation in Tolemaida)
The flight arrived in Bogotá and then the Colombians were transferred to a military base in Tolemaida to comply with the 14 days of quarantine.
According to a statement released by the Ministry of Justice in those days and as reported TIME at the end of March56 men and 8 women arrived on the flight.
Official information indicates that 36 were deported for immigration irregularities, 14 for drug-related issues, 8 for common crimes, four for theft, one for a sexual offense and one for money laundering.
(Also read: China rejects an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus)
“Upon disembarkation, the Colombian Red Cross carried out a first screening with the heat and temperature detection cameras, recording the temperature data in each health declaration, without presenting any person with symptoms of coronavirus“stated in his communication the Ministry of Justice
In that statement, he also says that before the flight, “the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service carried out the respective health protocols for all the deportees, validating that none had symptoms associated with covid-19, for which they were medically authorized.”
According to he knew TIME, Ambassador Francisco Santos contacted ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to define sanitation protocols for future trips.
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
CORRESPONDENT OF TIME
WASHINGTON
