Possible case of ‘Havana syndrome’ strands Kamala Harris in Singapore for several hours

Vice President Kamala Harris’ trip to Vietnam was delayed due to reports of an “anomalous health incident” in Hanoi. The phrase is often used to describe ‘Havana Syndrome,’ an unexplained medical condition affecting US diplomats.

Harris was due to depart Singapore for Hanoi on Tuesday afternoon, the second leg of her Asia trip. However, her flight was delayed for more than three hours due to concerns of an “anomalous health incident” that had been reported in the Vietnamese capital.

“Earlier this evening, the vice president’s traveling delegation was delayed from departing Singapore because the vice president’s office was made aware of a report of a recent possible anomalous health incident in Hanoi, Vietnam,” the US embassy in Hanoi said in a statement. “After careful assessment, the decision was made to continue with the vice president’s trip.”

The phrase “anomalous health incident” has previously been used by the US State Department to describe “Havana Syndrome,” a mysterious set of medical symptoms reported by American diplomats and spies stationed abroad. First reported in the Cuban capital in 2016, those allegedly affected by it claim to have suffered vertigo, hearing and memory loss, headaches, nausea and mental fogginess. 

Politicians and intelligence agents have suggested that the condition is caused by microwave or sonic weaponry, but there is little to back up these claims. In one incident in Havana, a US diplomat claimed to have recorded a sonic weapon being used, but researchers later found that the noise he heard was simply crickets chirping.

Back in Singapore, Harris’ plane eventually departed after a delay of more than three hours, Bloomberg reported. Asked about the delay by The Hill, Harris's communications director Symone Sanders, said the VP herself was well and "all is fine."

The vice president has thus far used her trip to rally America’s allies against China’s territorial claims in the South China sea, and its perceived efforts “to undermine the rules-based order and threaten the sovereignty of nations,” as she said during an address in Singapore earlier on Tuesday.

However, the trip has been overshadowed by the US’ ongoing evacuation from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, a chaotic effort that’s been panned by other world leaders and the media back home. Pressed by reporters on the situation in Kabul, Harris said on Monday that the Biden administration is “singularly focused” on extracting Americans from the city, and that a “robust analysis of what has happened” should wait until the withdrawal is complete.

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