COVID-19 rates plunge as decision nears on U.S. asylum limits

COVID-19 rates are plunging among migrants crossing the border from Mexico as the Biden administration faces a decision to end or extend sweeping restrictions on asylum that are aimed at limiting the virus’ spread

One by one, a voice called out the names of 169 people just released by the U.S. Border Patrol. Migrants rose from folding chairs in a clinic warehouse and walked to a table of blue-robed workers, who swabbed their mouths.

All but two Cuban women tested negative for COVID-19 that February morning. They were quarantined to motel rooms, while other migrants boarded chartered buses to Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport for flights across the U.S.

Theirs were among just seven of 5,301 tests the Regional Center for Border Health near Yuma, Arizona, did last month for released migrants that were positive — a rate of 0.1%

COVID-19 rates are plunging among migrants crossing the border from Mexico as the Biden administration faces a Tuesday deadline to end or extend sweeping restrictions on asylum that are aimed at limiting the virus' spread. Lower rates raise more questions about scientific grounds for a public health order that has caused migrants to be expelled from the United States more than 1.7 million times since March 2020 without a chance to request asylum.

While there is no aggregate rate for migrants, test results from several major corridors for illegal border crossings suggest it is well below levels that have triggered concerns among U.S. officials.

In California, 54 of 2,877 migrants tested positive the first two weeks of March, according to the state Department of Social Services. That's a rate of just 1.9%, down from a peak of 28.2% on Jan. 8.

In Pima County, Arizona, which includes Tucson, the seven-day positivity rate among migrants didn't exceed 1.3% in early March and dropped to 0.9% on March 10. The seven-day rate topped 5% on only two days during the final three months of last year. Then, as the omicron variant spread, it surged to double-digits for most of January, peaking at 19.2% on Jan. 12 and falling below 5% on February 12.