The escalation of covid-19 cases is already going unchecked in Cuba. This Wednesday the contagions are close to 1,000, after 967 were notified yesterday. The data is 43.6% more than on Monday, when 673 were reported, which were already 113 more than on Sunday.
Nor have there been deaths this day to regret, although there are 27 patients in intensive care (two more than yesterday), five of them in critical condition and 22 serious. On the positive side, 537 people were discharged.
By provinces, Pinar del Río and Matanzas continue to lead widely, with 165 and 151 cases respectively. Villa Clara advances, with 91 cases, the same as Camagüey, with 93; and thus both advance to Havana, which remains at 79. Cienfuegos (70), Las Tunas (62), Ciego de Ávila (59), Artemisa (51) and Sancti Spíritus (40), remain in the intermediate zone; while further down are Holguín (37), Mayabeque (20), Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo (which grew significantly, going from 3 to 14 cases in both cases), Isla de la Juventud (11) and Granma (10).
By provinces, Pinar del Río and Matanzas continue to lead widely, with 165 and 151 cases respectively
The sustained increase coincides with the entry into force of the new restrictions for travelers, which begin this Wednesday at Cuban airports.
In addition to presenting negative PCR, travelers must show a vaccination certificate from their countries of origin with the complete schedule of the vaccine applied. In the case of Cubans who reside on the island and are not vaccinated, or have not completed the scheme, they must take a test upon arrival and pass mandatory quarantine in a hotel, with the cost of accommodation and transportation at their own expense. After seven days a new test will be carried out which, if negative, will allow them to leave on the eighth day.
“Foreign travelers who arrive in Cuba and are part of the enrollment of international schools, scholarships in Cuban institutions, technicians and foreign collaborators who are housed, will carry out an eight-day quarantine in their respective centers, and a PCR will be carried out on the seventh day of his arrival “, added the health authorities.
Díaz Canel said earlier this Wednesday that his government is counting on having the entire population immunized with the booster dose at the end of January. As he maintained on his Twitter account, just over two million Cubans have their booster dose against covid-19.
However, the president assured that “the production and transfer of vaccines to the provinces” is being expedited due to the danger posed by the omicron variant, which is transmitted more easily. According to the Minister of Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, on the island, 92 cases of this variant have been detected to date, which was identified in South Africa for the first time, although it was already present in Europe, where it has spread to such an extent. point that in a month is beginning to be dominant and multiply the cases in countries that already had the virus under control.
The situation is repeating itself in America as well, with countries such as the United States, Panama or the Dominican Republic reporting record numbers
The situation is repeating itself in America as well, with countries such as the United States, Panama or the Dominican Republic reporting record numbers.
In this new wave of covid-19 that is hitting the world, the widespread vaccination in rich countries and the better knowledge of the disease when treating it, as well as the appearance of more contagious and, therefore, less virulent variants, are causing a decrease in hospitalization and death data.
On the negative side, they are wearing down health systems, especially primary care, and sick leave, due to the ease of the virus to replicate.
In Cuba, after thirteen consecutive weeks of containing the pandemic and a great reduction in cases and deaths, the data raises fears of a new wave that would reach an island with enormous pandemic fatigue and a worn out health system, as well as immersed in a crisis Although chronic, it is aggravated by the pandemic, government mismanagement, US sanctions and the debacle of the Venezuelan economy, which is now joined by runaway inflation that plagues the daily lives of Cubans.
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