On May 15, 2020, the U.S. House approved the $3 trillion HEROES Act, which contains a second round of coronavirus relief aid for state and local governments, and for American taxpayers who are struggling due to the pandemic. Although the bill passed in the House, it is unlikely to be approved by the Republican-dominated Senate. Nonetheless, many Americans, about 20 million, are still waiting for their stimulus checks from the CARES Act, which was signed into law on March 27, 2020.
Included in the group of U.S. citizens still waiting for the first round of relief aid are residents of Puerto Rico who have yet to receive their stimulus checks. In an interview with MSNBC on April 25, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said, “No one in Puerto Rico has received the $1200 from the federal government. We’re having problems with a local $500 check that the governor said was going to be distributed.”
On a May 19 update on the COVID-19 Economic Impact Payments (EIP), the Social Security Administration said they anticipate “that beneficiaries in the territories could begin receiving their EIP in early June.” June is a long time to wait to receive aid that is necessary right now. As of May 23, 276,737 Puerto Ricans have filed for unemployment since March 14—a little more than a quarter of their labor force.
The coronavirus pandemic is not the only crisis that Puerto Rico is facing as they are slowly recovering from Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island in September 2017. A 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck Puerto Rico on May 2, displacing at least 50 families and knocking out power—power which has yet to be fully restored since the total blackout caused by Hurricane Maria. The island has been without full power for 981 days and counting. The displaced families have formed impromptu camps: living in tents and lacking “even basic supplies, including sufficient food,” according to Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid organization.
Months after the 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the island on January 7, “thousands of people are still slumbering each night under camping tents, on cots, in their cars and in enormous open tents that serve as government shelters,” according to The New York Times. Their situations are made more dire by the coronavirus pandemic.
Experts worry the pandemic will threaten Puerto Rico’s health care system that is already in crisis. Before the outbreak, access to medical resources and services was limited. NBC News reported that, “according to the Health Resources and Services Administration, 72 of the island’s 78 municipalities are considered to be medically underserved and face ‘unmet health care needs.’” The limited number of physicians and lack of funding for hospitals, clinics and labs make it more difficult to treat patients who have fallen ill from a virus that disproportionately affects communities of color.
Asiya Haouchine
is an Algerian-American writer who graduated from the University of Connecticut in May 2016, earning a BA in journalism and English. She was an editorial intern and contributing writer for Warscapes magazine and the online/blog editor for Long River Review. She is currently studying for her Master’s in Library and Information Science. @AsiyaHaou