As of January 10 passengers in Cuba from abroad will be required to test negative for COVID-19

Havana, December 25 (RHC) The Cuban government announced that as of January 10,  all airline passengers arriving from abroad to test negative for the coronavirus within 72 hours of their departure in the country of origin.

During the government meeting held Thursday to assess the epidemiological situation caused by the pandemic, it was announced that the Ministry of Public Health would continue to upgrade protocols for SARS-COV-2 to guarantee travelers and their families' effective isolation in their homes.

It will also reinforce travelers' lodging capacities for residents in Cuba and who do not have the appropriate conditions in their homes so that they can spend the quarantine days in the isolation centers. Other actions will also be adopted.

On Wednesday, December 23, 217 new cases of COVID-19 were reported; 102 were contacts of confirmed cases, 101 with a source of infection abroad, and 14 without a determined source of infection.

This is the highest number of infections since the beginning of the country's epidemic on March 11. 

Between 60 and 70% of COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks on the island are confirmed case contacts or linked to people who have arrived in Cuba. President Miguel Díaz-Canel stressed that the measures that should be taken within the homes by the families had not had all the expected results.

If we are not worse off," said the Head of State, "it is because Cuban protocols to face the disease are robust, that is why we do not have more deaths, but the more cases there are, the greater the risks.

The president stressed the need to maintain discipline at the airports, physical distance and hygiene measures inside homes, and respect for new arrivals and their families' required isolation.

José Angel Portal Miranda, Minister of Public Health, informed that, of the 10,717 cases confirmed up to Wednesday, December 23, 10,356 are Cuban and 361 are foreign. There are 8,620 confirmed indigenous cases, with an incidence rate of 77 per 100,000 inhabitants (this does not include the 2,097 imported cases).

In the last 15 days, 885 cases have been confirmed, for a rate of 7.90 per 100,000 inhabitants. 2,969 persons remain in the hospital for attention and surveillance of the COVID-19, of whom 2,885 are Cubans, and 84 are foreigners, of whom 63 are under treatment, and 21 are under study.

In terms of the number of cases, Cuba ranks 21st in the Americas and 122nd in the world. The island maintains a lower than 0.89 lethality concerning the world and 1.14 in the Americas' region.