Tension mounts in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Ricans are becoming increasingly disgruntled with how the government is handling the COVID-19 crisis as details emerge, including the death a 29year-old man who became the U.S. territory’s youngest victim after his father said he wasn’t tested the first two times he sought help at an emergency room.

The allegation was made as the government announced Saturday that a private company took responsibility for disconnecting a refrigerated trailer packed with food that was supposed to be distributed to those in need amid a two-month lockdown to curb coronavirus cases, causing chicken, vegetables, fruits and other items to spoil.

“This is completely unacceptable,” Public Safety Director Pedro Janer said.

He said that while the government will be reimbursed, the incident is under investigation.

Meanwhile, newly appointed Health Secretary Lorenzo Gonzalez acknowledged during Saturday’s news conference that the island’s COVID-19 related data is not entirely accurate because some positive cases might have been counted twice, and that the government is working to improve it.

“It’s imperfect data, but we’re going to use it … because it’s the one we have,” he said.

Puerto Rico has reported more than 1,100 confirmed cases and more than 1,700 pending test results, with a total of 10,900 tested on an island of 3.2 million, the lowest per capita testing rate compared with any U.S. state.

At least 60 deaths have been reported, including that of a 29-year-old man whose father identified him as Joshua James Sanchez and said he had no chronic health conditions. The father, Luis Angel Sanchez, accused health workers in a social media post of testing and admitting his son only after he went into respiratory failure.

“I don’t wish this disastrous experience on anybody,” he said.