Reinado Internacional del Café 2022, the 50th edition of the international pageant, is all set to be held on 8th January 2022 at the Centro Cultural y Convenciones Teatro Los Fundadores, Colombia where delegates from all over the globe will compete for the international crown. The winner will succeed Iris Yazminhe Guerra Reina Internacional Del Cafe 2020/21.
A few days ago, Filipina beauty Ruffa Nava had to withdraw her participation from the competition at the last moment as she tested positive for covid-19 on the eve of her flight to Colombia last New Year’s Eve. No recently, the delegates of Guatemala and Portugal have been informed that they would not continue in the competition due to the contact they had with a present COVID-19 positive candidate.
The Miss Universe Guatemala and Miss Portuguese organizations released a press release regarding the situation and shared, “We report on the events that occurred in the 2022 International Coffee Reign, so that it is known to the authorities of Manizales, Colombia, this in order to safeguard the integrity and health of our candidates and remain as evidences the lack of protocol, care and communication on the part of the Reinado Internacional Del Café organization.”
“We regret to announce that the candidates from Guatemala and Portugal were informed that they would not continue in the competition to present COVID-19 due to the contact they had with a positive candidate. This despite the fact that they participated in the last days of public activities and with the rest of the candidates,” they added.
While there has been no statement from the respective delegates of Portugal and Guatemala, Inês Perestrello and Dannia Guevara Morfin haven’t spoken up on the , the organizations have collectively issued a statement which read, “Despite the fact that as organizations we comply with the requested protocols of having a complete vaccination scheme, a negative PCR test for Covid-19 24 hours before the trip and medical insurance, we were informed at the last minute that Colombian health authorities would carry out tests. Knowing this situation, the candidates placed four delegations at the hotel in a room upon arrival in Pereira, the representative of Dominican Republic being positive for Covid-19, which has been confirmed by her own national organization, with whom our delegates shared a room the initial night.”
The organizations have also shared the details of the day to day activities and how their delegates were allowed to join the activities in the past days and are now uncertain neither of the current nor future actions. They have requested the urgent intervention of the Mayor of Manizales, Mr. Carlos Marin Correa and the rest of the municipal authorities to take care of the situation and most importantly to guarantee the health and integrity of their national delegates, the rest of the candidates and staff in charge of them, their current care, and subsequent return to their countries, after this unfortunate experience.