In the Travellers’ Choice 2021 Best of the Best ranking, organized by the digital website, Cayo Santamaría was evaluated as the second on the planet, only behind Whitehaven Beach in Australia, while Varadero beach resort ranked twelfth.

The president of BioCubaFarma, Eduardo Martínez, announced this Wednesday on his Twitter account the start of the manufacturing at Aica laboratories of a batch of the vaccine.

As has been the trend, most of the cases are due to autochthonous transmission (854) and, of the total, 830 were related to confirmed cases.

A city council resolution of the so-called Windy City urges the United States Congress to pass legislation that ends the embargo and asks President Joe Biden to annul the measures adopted by the Donald Trump administration against the island.

Next April 12, it will be two years since the kidnapping in the African nation of Cuban doctors Assel Herrera and Landy Rodríguez by alleged members of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group.

The state telecommunications monopoly also disclosed that 189,000 clients have the Nauta Hogar home internet service. However, it is a “still discreet figure if one takes into account that it represents only 4.89%.”

The general director of the Finlay Vaccine Institute, Dr. Vicente Vérez, affirmed that this Cuban vaccine candidate has demonstrated a “high degree of safety and reliability” in the preceding trials.

On March 1, 1996, Clinton issued the emergency declaration, which was relaxed, although maintained, by the Executive of President Barack Obama, despite having reestablished relations with Havana in 2014.

Daily COVID-19 cases drop to 670, discharges reached 906 patients; but again four deaths were reported.

The deputy chief of the Cuban medical mission in the Venezuelan capital, Rodolfo Pérez, specified that more than 630 Cuban professionals will be immunized with the drug in the region, where two vaccination points have been installed.

New infections due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Cuba fell to 699, according to the report issued today by the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), where yesterday’s 924 discharges were notified, as well as four new deaths, three of them from Havana. Of the total infections, 685 are due to autochthonous transmission, and 666 of the COVID-19 patients were contacts of confirmed cases. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1364593484280324099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1364593484280324099%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fcoronavirus-en-cuba-descienden-los-contagios-aumentan-las-altas%2F Imported cases rose slightly to 14, mostly due to travelers from Russia, the United States, and Panama. Eight foreigners were also diagnosed with the pandemic on the island. Havana once again reports the highest number of infections, 395, followed by Pinar del Río (60), Santiago de Cuba (52), and Camagüey (41), although all provinces, including the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, reported positive cases. By incidence rates, 12 Cuban municipalities were responsible for 52.2% of the transmission in the last two weeks, most of them in the capital, which leads this statistic with 313.7 per 100,000 inhabitants. The deceased of the day: three women, from Havana; a man from Camagüey. Their ages ranged from 51 to 89 years. Now the pandemic’s death toll on the island stands at 308. As of midnight on Tuesday,...

The Cuban flag has been flying at half-mast since early Monday morning at the Cuban Embassy in Washington as a tribute to the 500,000 Americans who died from COVID-19, their families, and the American people, the state newspaper Granma reported. Cuban ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera had said on Twitter that it is a gesture of solidarity. https://twitter.com/lianystr/status/1364057851711410177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1364057851711410177%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba-ee-uu%2Fcuba-rinde-homenaje-a-victimas-del-coronavirus-en-estados-unidos%2F The gesture corresponds to a statement issued on February 22, when U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the American flag to be flown at half-mast at the White House and on all public buildings and properties, in all military spheres, naval posts, and stations, and on all Federal Government warships in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its territories and possessions until sunset on February 26, 2021. “More Americans have died in this pandemic than in World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined,” said Biden, adding that he and First Lady Jill Biden would observe a minute’s silence alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff. https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1363983909495705603?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1363983909495705603%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba-ee-uu%2Fcuba-rinde-homenaje-a-victimas-del-coronavirus-en-estados-unidos%2F The gesture is not by chance. According to Granma, Cuba was one of the first nations to condemn the terrorist attack of September 11, 2011, on the...

A private project in the eastern province of Las Tunas is venturing into obtaining plastic wood, emerging as another novel proposal that seeks greater ecological and financial sustainability, the Agencia Cubana de Noticias news agency reported. Registered and marketed by Mario González Bahamonde, Plásticos Bahamonde was created about a year ago and owes its origin to the interest of its founder to substitute raw materials, such as metal and wood, in the construction of furniture, a job he has been doing for more than 20 years. González Bahamonde learned about plastic wood through the Internet, so he set out to manufacture an extruder, the industrial machine in charge of processing polymers by “pressing, melting, molding, pressing and pushing the materials to obtain a new mold.” “I have been achieving the mixture for a year to obtain this type of wood from plastic,” he added. PHOTO: YACIEL PEÑA DE LA PEÑA/ACN Speaking to ACN, González Bahamonde said that the raw material is supplied by the Raw Materials Enterprise in Las Tunas. In addition to being its creator, Plásticos Bahamonde, a geologist by profession, employs almost 10 professionals: technicians, economists, publicists and personnel directly linked to production. Because of its results, during...

According to a report by the Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN) news agency, in February Cuba registered the highest number of cases diagnosed with COVID-19 in pediatric ages: a total of 1,984, which exceeds by more than 2,000 those reported at the close of last month. However, no patient of those ages has died from coronavirus, but contracting the disease is a high risk, since many of these children suffer from chronic diseases. “The cornerstone lies in the early stratification of the patient in order to avoid serious forms of the disease or death,” Dr. Randy Grillo Fortún, first-degree specialist in Pediatrics and head of this specialty at the Frank País Hospital, told the ACN.  He explained that when a minor with COVID-19 arrives at the hospital, the first thing to do is classify him as asymptomatic or symptomatic and consider the risk factors. If he is asymptomatic, he said, only the use of Interferon is required; but otherwise, a more exhaustive analysis is needed, that is, a classification by pediatric evaluation triangle, determine the level of severity, focus on the alteration of the organ that may be involved and obtain the results of complementary tests. Based on these tests,...

The Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported 836 new infections and four deaths in Cuba due to the coronavirus during the last 24 hours. The latest report says that there were 942 discharges, so the number of active cases decreased to 4,858. Of the total cases, 824 were due to autochthonous transmission and 797 were contacts of confirmed cases. All the provinces reported patients with COVID-19, although the highest number is still reported by Havana, with 452 yesterday, when all its municipalities had positive cases. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1364231982587260930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1364231982587260930%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fcoronavirus-en-cuba-mas-altas-que-nuevos-contagios-pero-la-situacion-sigue-siendo-preocupante%2F   The situation is more complicated in La Lisa, Old Havana, Centro Habana and Cotorro, four of the nine Havana municipalities that, together with one from Guantánamo and another from Mayabeque, account for 42.2% of the transmission in the last two weeks. The capital continues to lead in incidence rates, with 309 per 100,000 inhabitants. They are followed by Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba, with rates of 170.1 and 144.9 per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively. Three of the deceased also resided in the capital; the fourth in Mayabeque: three men, one woman, all aged between 72 and 88 years. With these deaths, the pandemic leaves 304 fatalities on the island; 88 so far in February....

The 60th Bivalent Oral Polio Vaccination Campaign begins this Monday throughout the island, where more than 330,000 children under three years of age will be vaccinated. From February 22 to 27, they will receive the first dose and then have a week of recovery, from March 1 to 6, the official website of the Ministry of Public Health specified. It was also known that 124,288 nine-year-olds will have a reactivation of the vaccine this week. According to the current situation the island is experiencing due to COVID-19, specific vaccination points will be established in family doctor’s offices, in order to avoid crowds of people. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1363161115191033871?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1363161115191033871%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Finicia-este-lunes-60-campana-de-vacunacion-antipolio-en-cuba%2F All means of protection and strict compliance with the established hygienic-sanitary measures are also guaranteed. The first polio vaccination campaign began in Cuba in 1962, a disease preventable by vaccine and one of the six preventable by vaccination eliminated on the island. Polio is a disease produced by the poliovirus that results in acute flaccid paralysis with notable motor disability in children.

On the verge of completing a year in which the WHO declared it a pandemic, COVID-19 has already produced 300 deaths in Cuba, after this Monday, the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported four new deaths. Just in February, there have been 84 deaths. This time the victims were four women, two residing in Havana, one from Santiago de Cuba and the other from Guantánamo; between the ages of 74 and 96 years and mostly contacts of confirmed cases. Regarding their ages, Dr. Francisco Durán has reiterated “the need to protect the elderly,” because it is known that they are “very vulnerable.” https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1363868356114345985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1363868356114345985%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fcoronavirus-acumula-300-muertes-en-cuba%2F In fact, in the last 24 hours, 158 people in this age group were diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. A great many of the 61 who were in intensive care, also classified in this group. Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases totaled 45,361 with the new infections, which yesterday fell to 838 after the 22 Cuban laboratories processed 18,060 samples, 35.6% of them in Havana. The capital, in addition to reporting the highest number of cases (412), continues to lead the incidence rates, with 301.5 per 100,000 inhabitants. In terms of daily cases, the provinces with the highest figures were...

A new molecular biology laboratory was inaugurated this February 21 in the province of Guantánamo, in eastern Cuba, for the diagnosis of COVID-19. The headquarters of the Provincial Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of the territory houses the new laboratory, the 22nd of its kind on the island. According to the information published by the Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN) news agency, the facility will be able to process a maximum of between 400 and 500 tests a day, although at first, it will not process more than 300, so that the group can demonstrate and guarantee compliance with the established safety and protection protocols. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1363511802638786569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1363511802638786569%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fabren-en-guantanamo-nuevo-laboratorio-de-biologia-molecular%2F The press report states that the investment amounted to 1.2 million pesos and will allow the province to not depend on third-party laboratories in the eastern region for its PCR tests. Around 30 professionals, mostly women and young people grouped in four work teams were qualified in a similar center in the province of Santiago de Cuba. The note from the ACN highlights that five computer scientists received specific training in data screening and information collection, based on the operation of a unique software of its kind in Cuba, which will allow the health...

The country’s most advanced Cuban prototype COVID-19 vaccine is due to enter phase III of clinical trials in March.

Most of the COVID-19 patients are from autochthonous transmission (1,009). Havana continues being the province with the most complicated situation, accounting for 579 cases. The five deceased on the day were from Havana and Santiago de Cuba.

Minister of Economy Alejandro Gil affirmed that authorizing these imports on a commercial basis “would be a mistake” and “a contradiction with respect to the strategy we are implementing” because, he said, this would lead to the flight of foreign currency from the country, something that the authorities are trying to avoid and the main reason for the opening since the end of 2019 of a group of stores for the exclusive sale in freely convertible currency.

This Saturday the Ministry of Public Health reported 937 new cases of coronavirus, 984 discharges and four deaths. For the eleventh time in February, all the country’s provinces registered at least one positive case.

The Ministry of Agriculture of Cuba (MINAG) confirmed this Friday that the expected decree-law on animal welfare should be approved in the current month of February, due to the claims and fears of animal groups that the regulation will be postponed again. This decree-law was initially scheduled for last November, but was finally changed for February as part of the readjustments made in the island’s legislative schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, no mention of it was made at the meeting of the Council of State—the body in charge of its approval—held this Tuesday, when three other decree-laws were approved. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/cuban-animal-protectors-talk-with-representatives-of-ministry-of-agriculture-after-protest/ The above set off the alarms of activists and animal protectors, a group of which held a peaceful demonstration this Friday outside the headquarters of MINAG, as a result of which it was received by several of its authorities. At the meeting, the animal protectors—mostly young—presented their complaints and criteria to the officials, and the latter “ratified the will that a higher-ranking legal regulation that promotes animal welfare be approved this month and in which all the concerns and requirements of animal lovers in Cuba are collected and considered,” according to a note published by MINAG after the...

A group of animal protectors who stood with posters in front of the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG) this Friday protesting over the postponement of the decree-law of animal welfare—and which was not approved at the most recent meeting of the Council of State—presented their complaints and criteria to MINAG officials. The group was received by officials of that ministry and the conversation could be followed through social networks until they were asked to put their phones away. En estos momentos animalistas están reunidos con funcionarios del Ministerio de la Agricultura luego de una... Publicada por CEDA - Cubanos en Defensa de los Animales en Viernes, 19 de febrero de 2021 “We want a date for the approval of the Decree-Law on animal welfare," was already read in a statement published on the Facebook profile of Beatriz Batista, one of the participants. The document calls for “transparency on the content of said decree before its approval so that there can be feedback from the animal protectors’ community, and effective communication on what the mechanisms designed to report these problems are, as well as for the compliance of the law in question.” Finally, and after a debate between the parties, the animal protectors...

The SARS-CoV-2 virus left 859 infections in Cuba this Thursday, according to information from the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP). In addition, as explained by Dr. Francisco Durán in his press conference, 10 of them were infants and are part of the 95 minors diagnosed in the last 24 hours. A six-month-old baby was also reported seriously ill in a day in which 107 children under 20 years of age were positive for the virus, according to Durán. Now there are 742 minors with the active coronavirus, according to health authorities. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1362783014980378626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1362783014980378626%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fcoronavirus-en-cuba-859-nuevos-contagios-diez-de-ellos-en-menores-de-un-ano%2F Meanwhile, the contagion in most of the 859 patients is due to autochthonous transmission (828) and 797 were contacts of confirmed cases. Until midnight, in 31 individuals the origin of the infection was not specified. Havana continues to be the territory that reports the highest number of infections, 449 between imported and autochthonous cases yesterday, followed by Santiago de Cuba (129), Mayabeque (60) and Guantánamo (44), although all provinces reported cases. This data corresponds to that of the territories with the highest incidence rates, a statistic led by the capital, followed by Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba, with incidence rates of 289.9, 188.7 and 166.4 per 100,000 inhabitants,...