Cuba Experiences Worst Case Outbreak, Announces Drastic Measures Against Spread of Covid-19 | Society

In the Cuban capital, the incidence rate over the past 15 days is 343 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, more than triple that of the rest of the island. “Alarming early April, with a daily average of over a thousand cases, the majority in Havana. In the coming hours, there will be more drastic closure measures, such as in the face of the first epidemic of covid-19, ”Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced in a Twitter message.

Díaz-Canel assured that “the low perception of risk is the greatest danger”, and warned that it will take months for Cuban vaccines to be ready for mass use and “Cuba is completely immune”. According to the Cuban president, 90,000 volunteers participating in the third phase of clinical trials have already received the second dose of Soberana 02 and Abdala (the most advanced Cuban candidates), and tens of thousands more are participating in “studies of ‘controlled intervention’, although, he said, now ‘it’s not enough to put your shoulder in’ but it is about ‘taking responsible action’. “For the good of our families and the country: remoteness, hygiene and masks,” he recommended.

Cuba has accumulated 81,640 infections and 440 deaths since the start of the epidemic, figures which remain low compared to other countries in the zone such as the Dominican Republic (more than 250,000 infections and 3,300 deaths), Panama (356,000 infected and 6,100 deaths) or Mexico (2,445,000 cases and 200,000 deaths). However, for the Caribbean island, which during the first nine months of the pandemic has been a model of control and good management of the epidemic – until January 1, 2021, Cuba recorded only 12,056 positive cases and 146 deaths – the sharp increase in the spread of the coronavirus in recent weeks is something extraordinary that has raised all alarms.

The number of patients began to grow exponentially in mid-December, after airports reopened and tens of thousands of travelers, mostly Cuban-Americans, came to visit their families. Authorities attribute the epidemic to the relaxation of safety protocols and preventive health and social distancing measures, both for individuals and institutions, which led to 10 of the 15 Cuban provinces that had progressed towards normality to return to the epidemiological phase, including Havana.

Bar closings in Havana

For two months, various restrictive and containment measures have been in force in the Cuban capital, including the closure of bars, restaurants, entertainment venues and beaches, the suspension of all educational activities, the curfew from nine o’clock in the morning. evening and the limitation of public transport hours. The arrival of flights from countries with a high rate of spread of the epidemic has also been reduced and quarantine in hotels is compulsory for tourists or compulsory isolation in state centers for contacts of people. confirmed cases. None of these measures have succeeded in stopping the spread of infections.

The governor of Havana, Reinaldo García Zapata, asserted that the places where the greatest transmission is generated are “isolated houses and work centers”, noting that in work institutions “indiscipline and non-compliance with health protocols, excess staff and untimely information on positive cases have created a complex situation ”.

Although the authorities do not speak directly about the large queues that form daily in front of shops and stores, derived from the acute shortage of food and basic necessities, Cuba is currently going through one of the worst economic crises of the country. its history, with an 11% drop in GDP last year, is one of the most worrying factors and making it difficult to control the transmission of the coronavirus.

The problem of queues is impossible to solve at the moment, as the state cannot guarantee a stable supply of goods and people have to go out on the streets every day to ensure their livelihood. For more trouble, this is happening just as the country has embarked on a complex and traumatic currency reform that has spiked inflation and Cubans are losing a good chunk of their purchasing power.

Faced with these very difficult circumstances, the Cuban Government has stepped on the accelerator to obtain its own vaccine allowing it to vaccinate its population, which it intends to achieve before the end of the year.

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