Puerto Rico Just Had Its ‘Worst Moment’ for Covid-19

The island saw explosive growth in coronavirus cases, fueled by business reopenings, Easter and tourists on spring break.

SAN JUAN, P.R. — Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Víctor Ramos, a pediatrician, had not seen more than two Covid-19 patients hospitalized at the same time at San Jorge Children & Women’s Hospital in San Juan, the Puerto Rican capital, where he works nights. When he left after one of his shifts a few days ago, the hospital’s pediatric patient count had grown to 10. “We had never seen that,” he said. Some children were dehydrated after the coronavirus gave them high fevers, Dr. Ramos said, but others had the inflammatory syndrome that afflicts some children with Covid-19. One of the children hospitalized with severe Covid was just 3 months old, he said.