Puerto Rico wants flight ban from US hot spots

The petition by Gov. Wanda Vázquez to the Federal Aviation Administration comes as officials accuse some visitors of taking medicine to lower their fevers to avoid being placed in quarantine.

PUERTORICO-HEALTH-VIRUS — A municipal employee gives literature about the coronavirus to a motorist at a check point in Loiza, Puerto Rico on April 7, 2020. - On March 15, 2020, Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced imposed a curfew shuttering non-essential businesses on the island and ordered people to stay home from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. In addition, from March 31, she imposed even tighter measures, including requiring anyone entering a business to wear a face mask.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s governor is asking federal officials to ban all flights from U.S. cities with a high number of coronavirus cases to help prevent the spread in the U.S. territory.

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The petition by Gov. Wanda Vázquez to the Federal Aviation Administration comes as officials accuse some visitors of taking medicine to lower their fevers to avoid being placed in quarantine. National Guard members screen people at the island’s main international airport.

The National Guard has said at least two passengers from New York who lowered their fever with medication are now hospitalized in the island with COVID-19.

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