Guatemalan president says many migrants on U.S. deportation flight had coronavirus

FILE PHOTO: Guatemala's President Alejandro Giammattei looks on during a news conference with Michael Kozak (not pictured), acting assistant secretary for U.S. State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, in Guatemala City, Guatemala February 7, 2020. REUTERS/Luis Echeverria

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said on Friday a large number of migrants on a deportation flight to Guatemala from the United States earlier this week had the novel coronavirus, adding that U.S. authorities had confirmed a dozen infections.

Giammattei said 12 randomly selected migrants who took the deportation flight tested positive for coronavirus when examined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. health protection agency.