Two strong storms that occurred this Monday afternoon left damages to homes and others in towns in central Cuba. Fortunately, no victims were reported. A first severe local storm occurred around 4:30 p.m. in the Ceballos People’s Council, in the municipality of Ciego de Ávila, and caused “considerable damage to homes, crop houses and plantations,” the Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN) news agency reported. The meteorological event hit with “strong winds ranging between 80 and 90 kilometers per hour, heavy rain and large-size hail” and, according to preliminary data from the Municipal Defense Council, caused 19 partial roof collapses in the Loma de la Carolina and another 10 in the El Purial area. In addition, it damaged 21 crop houses, a store, two laboratories and electrical and telephone interruptions in several communities, while “damaging some 70 hectares of mango destined for export, from the Ceballos Agro-industrial Enterprise.” https://www.facebook.com/invasorpresss/posts/3174422729462096 The greatest damage to mango is concentrated in the Marsella farm, “where 60% of the fruit fell, which is already being collected to process as much as possible in the industrial compound,” the ACN specified. According to testimonies from residents of Loma de la Carolina, the storm “developed very quickly, with little...

Cuba maintains control over COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) daily morning report. In fact, the figures reported today continue to account for that control, achieving a week without deaths from the pandemic, while the new infections totaled 13, seven more than the previous day. They are Cubans, of whom 9 had some type of contact with confirmed cases, while in four individuals the source of infection was not specified. One of them was detected in the health personnel’s population study carried out with asymptomatic people, said Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology. https://oncubanews.com/especiales/especial-sobre-la-covid-19/ Of the 13 new infections, 9 were detected in men; and, by age group, the most affected were: under 40 (9; of them: two children, 8 and 12 years old) and between 40 and 60 (4). Thirty-five medical discharges were reported, two patients were in critical condition and six were in serious condition. At midnight yesterday, 817 people were hospitalized for clinical epidemiological care and another 2,289 were under primary healthcare surveillance in their homes. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1263106275727994880 To date the country has processed a total of 87,288 tests, of which 1,900 have been positive.

More than a hundred Cubans who’re in the business of reselling merchandise, known on the island as “mules,” are still stranded in Moscow, a city they barely know and where a language they don’t master is spoken. The coronavirus pandemic has left them trapped: the city closed its land and air borders, and has imposed confinements to stop COVID-19, which prevents them from working to survive or returning home. “People who travel to Russia to buy merchandise for Cuba usually come for seven days, because a long stay does not give them a profit,” explains Pedro Luis García, a Cuban who has lived in Moscow for eight years and supports his fellow citizens with legal advice and food aid. Now, many have been locked up for almost two months, with no money to eat or pay the rent. They also have no return date in sight. García indicates that more than 20 people can live in just one apartment in rooms with three or four bunkbeds and with the corridors full of bales with merchandise. But, those who return are not the only Cubans who find themselves in a difficult situation in Russia due to the restrictions imposed to contain...

The COVID-19 outbreak in Cuba is, according to all reports, under control. In a press conference, the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) authorities reported today’s figures and only 6 new infections are added. At the close of midnight yesterday, no death occurred for the sixth day in a row on the island due to the disease, the number of deaths remaining at 79 and that of patients at 1,887. The new infections were from Havana, Matanzas and Villa Clara, all three with two cases each. Of this total, four people were asymptomatic and all had had contact with positive cases. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1262730536352714753 At midnight on May 18, when MINSAP prepared this report, 824 people were hospitalized for clinical epidemiological care and another 2,353 were under primary healthcare surveillance in their homes. To date the country has processed a total of 85,556 tests, of which 2.2% have been positive.

Roberto Arias Hernández is 28 years old, has an eleven-month-old baby in Cuba and is part of the medical contingent providing aid in northern Italy. There he is fighting against the COVID-19. “We are simply doctors and today we have had to play our role more than ever,” he told AFP in an interview that is already being reproduced by several media in the world. “We are fighting a pandemic and we are the ones who act in the face of this situation,” he said. The conversation takes place shortly before starting his day at the Crema hospital, in the heart of Lombardy, the region hardest hit by the new coronavirus. “The Italian people’s reception has been very warm. People hang posters on the windows of their houses with ‘Thank you Cuba, thank you Cuba,’” says Roberto Arias, a Cuban doctor in Lombardy. Photo: AFP/Miguel Medina, via France24. It is Arias’ first internationalist mission, although not for many of the 51 contingent specialists; more than half faced Ebola in Africa. “Fear is always felt,” he confesses: “The feeling is that you want to do it, but you are also afraid of not living up to it.” Arias has been working...

More than 20 earthquakes, some of them perceptible, and a tornado that caused material damage, were reported this Sunday in eastern Cuba. According to the National Center for Seismological Research (CENAIS), until 7:30 pm (local time), 21 telluric movements had been registered in the eastern part of the island, “some of them perceptible by the population,” in what is classified as “anomalous seismic activity.” The earthquakes were felt in the municipalities of Guamá, Palma Soriano, Tercer Frente, Contramaestre and Santiago de Cuba, in the province of Santiago de Cuba, in the municipalities of Media Luna, Bayamo and Bartolomé Masó, in the province of Granma, and in the city of Guantánamo in the province of the same name, reported CENAIS, which explains that so far no victims or material damage have been reported as a result of the quakes. https://www.facebook.com/enriquediego.arangoarias/posts/3049320251853458 The largest of the tremors had a magnitude of 4.6 degrees and was recorded at 4:47 pm. It was located 20 kilometers south-southwest of the Santiago town of Chivirico, and just two hours later, a 4.2-magnitude aftershock was recorded. Both earthquakes are considered the seventh and eighth perceptible this year. This seismicity, points out CENAIS, “corresponds to an activation of a...

Five consecutive days without COVID-19 leaving deaths in Cuba. “It’s not to be over-confident, but it is the result of popular participation,” said Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology, at the press conference of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) morning briefing. Meanwhile, the number of infections fell to 9; all were Cuban and, in total, 8 were detected without symptoms. Four of them were related to patients, while in five individuals the source of infection was not specified. “It is the result of the search for the disease,” said Durán, stressing that just yesterday 1,951 tests had been processed. Those identified as affected by the new coronavirus to date number 1,881, and the death toll remains at 79. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1262372037491929089 Havana and Villa Clara were the provinces that reported most of the new infections, with 3 each; Pinar del Río, Matanzas and Las Tunas only registered one each. With yesterday’s 10 discharges, 1,505 patients have recovered from the pandemic on the island, and two patients are reported in critical condition and seven in serious condition. At the close of midnight yesterday, May 17, 970 people were hospitalized for clinical epidemiological surveillance and another 2,293 were under primary healthcare surveillance in...

Cubans living in the United Kingdom raised more than 30,000 dollars to support the fight against the coronavirus epidemic on the island, according to an association that brings them together on the social media. “The Association of Cubans in the UK thanks all the people and organizations that contributed to the collection of more than 25,000 pounds sterling to help patients with COVID-19 in Cuba,” the group reported on its Facebook profile. About 26,000 pounds was collected, almost 31,500 dollars, according to a report by Prensa Latina (PL) news agency. https://www.facebook.com/cubanos.enuk/posts/1622162364625848 The campaign, an initiative of two Cuban doctors, started 28 days ago and its objective is “to acquire components of the artificial respirators that Cuba cannot buy due to the U.S. blockade,” says PL, which explains that among the donors were figures such as Lord David Triesman, co-president of the Cuba Initiative, dedicated to promoting trade between the United Kingdom and Cuba. In this regard, Triesman commented that it is crazy that a people that contributes so much to world pharmaceutical and medical aid has to suffer from the shortage of equipment in these terrible times. For her part, Daniesky Acosta, president of the Association of Cubans in the...

The data referring to COVID-19 in Cuba, which the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reports , remain in a zone of stability, and low. For the fourth consecutive day, no deaths were reported and there were 10 new infections. “It is somewhat encouraging that, despite the critical cases and the serious cases, lives are managed to be saved,” said Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology, who recalled that, nevertheless, the pandemic has left 79 deaths on the island. The new infections occurred in Havana and Matanzas. They are Cubans, of which 80% had a relationship with confirmed cases; and only in two individuals was the source of infection not specified. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1262007206284853251 There were equal numbers of men and women among the new patients; and by age groups, the most affected are concentrated in those under 40, with 5 individuals, and in those over 60, with 4; 60% of the positive cases were asymptomatic. Yesterday, 35 people were discharged, making up a total of 1,495 recovered. Three critically ill patients and seven seriously ill patients are reported. https://oncubanews.com/especiales/especial-sobre-la-covid-19/ At midnight on May 16, 1,448 people were hospitalized for clinical epidemiological surveillance and another 3,249 were under primary healthcare surveillance in...

The Cuban Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) confirmed this Friday that the island’s borders will remain closed until the government indicates it, but assured that it is preparing its facilities for when the time for reopening comes. An official note from the MINTUR, published on its social networks and in the island’s media, states that “for the sake of protecting national health security,” which it considers a “fundamental premise of the Cuban State,” “our borders will not be opened, nor will tourist services be activated, until indicated by the government of the Republic of Cuba.” However, it notes that “taking into account the current situation of this disease’s development in Cuba and in the world, the Ministry of Tourism is focused on continuous improvement of hotel and non-hotel facilities.” In addition, it reports that it is working “on the elaboration of hygiene and sanitary protocols, to face the restart of tourist activities.” Check Ministry of Tourism´s tweet here Tourism is a vital source of income for Cuba, which since before the spread of COVID-19 was already going through a complex economic situation aggravated by the embargo and the new U.S. sanctions, several of them focused on the tourism sector, such as...

Maintaining social distancing, correctly using the facemask or washing hands regularly during the COVID-19 epidemic in Cuba, are now mandatory and legally supported, in accordance with resolution 128/20 published this week in the Gaceta Oficial. According to the regulations, failure to comply with these and other sanitary measures―such as leaving home only when “strictly necessary”―“may generate administrative or criminal liability, as established by the corresponding authorities.” The resolution issues “specific complementary” sanitary provisions for the current stage of prevention and control of the spread of COVID-19 in Cuban national territory. It complements the measures approved in a previous resolution, number 82 of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) dated March 23 and published in the Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria of April 9, which issued “sanitary, hygienic and epidemiological provisions for the organization and operation of health services and other public services and activities linked to the population in the face of the epidemiological emergency situation.” According to the document, the new measures “will be in force until the epidemiological risk persists” and are “mandatory for individuals and legal entities, national and foreign.” Its objective is “to prevent the spread of the disease and achieve epidemiological control to allow the safe functioning...

The Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported 22 new coronavirus infections at the close of this Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases on the island to 1,862. The province of Matanzas was mainly responsible for this increase, registering 19 positive cases, nine of them in the provincial capital, where a local transmission event had previously been confirmed in the Faustino Pérez Hospital. However, the MINSAP report does not specify whether or not these new cases are linked to this outbreak, in which there were already a dozen patients. The remaining cases were in Havana (2)―the lowest number in weeks in the Cuban capital―, and Camagüey (1). The good news was that for the third consecutive day no deaths were reported, so COVID-19’s death toll in Cuba remains at 79 and the case fatality rate is 4.2%, below the of the Americas region and the world. Meanwhile, 35 discharges were given, and the recovered patients now total 1,460. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1261652255146758145 Of the 22 new infected, all are Cuban, of them 10 men and 12 women. A total of 20 are contacts of previously confirmed cases and in two the source of infection could not be specified. In addition, 18...

A police investigation uncovered “diversion” of food and corrupt accounting procedures in Villa Perlazúcar, the first isolation center for COVID-19 suspects in Cienfuegos, located on the outskirts of that city in central Cuba. The inspectors of the Cuban Ministry of Interior (MININT) in charge of the investigation discovered “food shortages” ―especially chicken―in the center’s storage room, in addition to “administrative violations constituting a crime,” the newspaper 5 de septiembre reported this Thursday. During the investigation, the authorities occupied 25,251 Cuban pesos (CUP) and 14 convertible pesos (CUC) in a backpack belonging to the center’s administrator, who tried to justify the money as a result of sales made to the center’s workers, but without documentation that would back them, according to the source. Given the signs of “lack of control,” the Bureau of Criminal Investigations (OIC) of MININT, in charge of the investigation, requested a supervision action of the enterprise, in which they verified a preliminary economic effect of 45,910.24 CUP. The revised documentation shows that, for several days, the number of meals that were declared were well above what the villa actually had. Major Ángel Lorenzo García, an ICO officer who is conducting the process, said that statements by the...

Yesterday was another day without deaths from COVID-19 in Cuba. Contagion cases dropped to 10, as in March, when the pandemic began on the island. The number of hospitalized also decreased and now is 913. “It’s not that we have solved, there is a better result, there is a greater recovery of patients," said Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology at the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), at the morning briefing. He said that among the newly infected there were more women than men (7 to 3) and that nine of them had contact with SARS-CoV-2 virus positive patients. He also highlighted that three of them are children. 60.0% of new infections were asymptomatic and the most affected age groups were those under 40 years of age, with six cases, and those over 60 years of age, with four. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1261283933976698881 Until midnight on May 14, when the health authorities collected this information, 3 patients were reported in critical condition and 6 in serious condition. On the same day, 42 people were discharged, for a total of 1,425 recovered. To date, 2,947 people have been under primary healthcare surveillance in their homes and Cuba has processed 77,374 tests.

The study to detect positive cases of the new coronavirus in apparently healthy people who are not contacts of patients or suspects has already started in Camagüey. The director of the Provincial Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology in that province, Dr. Juan Llambías Peláez, said that “the study foresees the taking of a nasopharyngeal sample to know in real time the progress of COVID-19 with tests known as PCR, which detect the new coronavirus before the disease manifests itself.” Families in predetermined areas in the municipalities of Najasa, Jimaguayú, Florida, Minas and Camagüey, are voluntarily submitting to the test, which is carried out by taking samples every 21 days. The study will detect positive cases of the new coronavirus. Many of the patients in the province are asymptomatic. https://oncubanews.com/cuba/ciencia/salud-en-cuba/coronavirus-salud-en-cuba/siete-nuevos-casos-positivos-en-camaguey/ The lack of symptoms that warn of the possibility of contagion constitutes an element that tends to minimize the perception of risk in the population, Dr. Llambías said. “We insist on individual responsibility because we have noticed a certain tendency to consider that the situation is resolved; but, moreover, no one can do more for our health than ourselves. All preventive measures are maintained with frequent hand washing with soap and...

The authorities of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported this morning there were no deaths and 20 new infections from COVID-19. The patients registered at midnight yesterday correspond to Cubans and only in one case is the source of infection not specified. Their geographical distribution is as follows: Havana: 10 cases (3 from the municipality of San Miguel del Padrón; Centro Habana and Arroyo Naranjo, 2 each; Playa, Boyeros and La Lisa, 1 each). Matanzas: 10 cases (7 from Matanzas municipality; Limonar, Jovellanos and Los Arabos, 1 each). https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1260922490173325313 Of this total, 75.0% were women and, by age group, the most affected were concentrated in those under 40, with 11 cases, and between 40 and 60 years, with 9. Of the 20 people, 17 were asymptomatic. Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology, has also underlined that “one of the lowest figures” has been reported in terms of hospitalization, which reached 1,046 people. As of midnight yesterday, May 13, 2,749 people were under primary healthcare surveillance in their homes. The number of recovered from the new coronavirus on the island has reached 1,383 after 57 discharges yesterday. Three patients were reported in critical condition and six in serious condition....

According to a dispatch from the Prensa Latina news agency, Cuba and China decided to speed up a project to establish the first joint biotech park to develop, produce and market the island’s drugs. Cuban Ambassador to China Carlos Miguel Pereira and Huang Liansheng, president of Guangxi Fukang Medical Investment and Management Co. Ltd., said this is a key work of bilateral cooperation. The biotech park is an agreement between the BioCubaFarma group and the aforementioned Chinese entity. It will be installed in the Fangchenggang Development Zone, with prospects of becoming an experimental industrial hub in drug research and procurement for China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It includes building a cooperative platform to provide better public health services and a joint venture that will develop Cuban drugs for heart and cerebrovascular disorders, and different cancers, among others. The Fangchenggang Development Zone in southern China. Photo: Wikipedia. According to Pereira, this work will open the way for other plans in a sector in which both countries have strong ties. He appreciated the efforts of Guangxi Fukang to promote the project and highlighted its relevance because it coincides with other initiatives by Cuba and the highest health, science and...

The infections reported today in Cuba are the lowest since March 22; 6 positive cases, although there was one death, Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), reported in his usual press conference. Now, the pandemic on the island has left up to 79 deaths and 1,810 confirmed cases. The new victim of COVID-19 was an 83-year-old woman, a resident of Bauta, Artemisa. The data on her medical evolution are explained in the report published today. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1260561240402939911 The new infections correspond to Cubans; 4 were asymptomatic and the majority continue to be concentrated in the capital. Their residence is as follows: Havana, with 5 people detected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus (San Miguel del Padrón, La Lisa, Plaza, Cerro and Arroyo Naranjo, one each), and Ciego de Ávila, with one in the municipality of Bolivia. Meanwhile, 49 patients were discharged yesterday to raise the number of recovered to 1,326. Three patients are reported in critical condition and four in serious condition. As of midnight yesterday, May 12, 1,553 people were hospitalized for clinical epidemiological surveillance; another 3,256 are under primary healthcare surveillance in their homes. To date, the country has processed a total of...

Federal Judge Robert N. Scola yesterday dismissed a lawsuit filed against Amazon, covered by Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. The electronic commerce giant had asked the judge to reject the lawsuit filed by Daniel A. González, grandson of the late Miguel González Rodríguez, who with the Revolution lost an 810-hectare estate in the then-Orient province, where vegetable coal is produced today with marabú. González also sued Susshi International, a Florida-based company, for selling the coal, which can also be purchased on Amazon, produced on the Oriente-based estate under the Fogo brand. Judge Scola had dismissed the lawsuit in first instance, but offered González the option to modify it, which his lawyers did, but even so they didn’t achieve their purpose, as demonstrated by the judicial decision issued today. Basically the main reason why Scola decided that the lawsuit cannot continue to be processed is that González was unable to demonstrate that he meets the requirement to own the rights to property confiscated since before March 12, 1996, when the Helms-Burton Act was passed. The lawsuit had been filed in September 2019 by González, who alleged that “Amazon profited from and trafficked with the confiscated property by selling on its...

Today the news regarding COVID-19 in Cuba begins this way: one death and 21 new infections, of which 19 occurred in Havana, a province that has been reporting the largest number of cases to reach the figure of 868 patients. The municipalities that show the highest concentration of cases are Centro Habana, Cotorro, Habana del Este and Cerro, with 361 infections, according to the newspaper Tribuna de La Habana. However, at midnight yesterday, the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported there were no deaths in the capital, which, nevertheless, remains the epicenter of the pandemic in Cuba. The new victim is a 58-year-old man, a resident of in Matanzas, whose medical evolution is described in the medical report. The 21 new infections are Cubans; 17 of them were asymptomatic. Their geographical location is as follows: Havana: 19 cases (9 from Playa municipality; 3 from Centro Habana municipality; Cotorro and Habana del Este, 2 each; San Miguel del Padrón, La Lisa and Marianao, 1 each). Matanzas: 1 case (from Limonar municipality). Ciego de Ávila: 1 case (from Ciego de Ávila municipality). At the close of May 11, 1,148 people were hospitalized for clinical epidemiological surveillance and another 3,907 were under primary...

Cuba adjusted the economy plan for 2020 due to the current situation generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, at the same time as it began to carry out the economic plan for the coming year, taking into account the nation’s economic and social development. The decision was announced at a recent meeting of the Cuban Council of Ministers, where other indications were announced for the economic strategy planned for the recovery stage from the pandemic that is affecting today the entire planet. Minister of Economy and Planning Alejandro Gil Fernández announced that this readjustment is carried out given the present exceptional situation, and confirmed that work is also underway on the National Plan for Economic and Social Development until 2030. “In addition, it is necessary to have an economic strategy for recovery and organize the development of the Cuban economy, in a world crisis scenario,” said the official. The strategy that the government will implement consists of two stages, explained Gil Fernández: the first is related to the immediate recovery of economic activity after the pandemic, while the second will seek to strengthen the national economy. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/economy/cuban-economy/cuba-current-economic-emergencies-for-a-post-covid-19-context/ The first stage will consist of several phases; first, services and activities will be...

Two months after the first cases of COVID-19 were reported, the health authorities in Cuba today reported 17 new patients and no deaths, for a total of 1,783 positive cases and 77 deaths from the pandemic. Of the new infections, 16 acquired the disease due to having been in contact with already detected cases; meanwhile, in an individual the source of contagion was not established; 88.2% of that total was asymptomatic. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1259838242507165704 The residence of the confirmed cases is as follows: Havana: 6 cases (Cotorro and Regla municipalities, 2 each; Arroyo Naranjo and Old Havana, 1 each). Matanzas: 3 cases (2 from Matanzas municipality; 1 from Limonar municipality). Villa Clara: 1 case (from Santa Clara municipality). Camagüey: 7 cases (6 from Camagüey municipality; 1 from Florida municipality). Of the total reported today, 10 were male. The most affected aged groups were between 40 and 59 years old, with seven cases; followed by the group between 20 to 39 years, with six. In its report today, MINSAP informed of one critically ill patient and six seriously ill patients. At the close of midnight yesterday, at the time of this report, 1,553 patients were hospitalized for clinical epidemiological surveillance and another 3,900...

Scientists from the Cuban Center for Advanced Studies (CEA) and the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK) managed to capture an image of the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus, the first to be obtained from clinical samples in Cuba. The images of the virus were obtained using the scanning electron microscopy technique, according to a publication on the CEA’s Twitter account, the Agencia Cubana de Noticias news agency reported this Sunday. https://twitter.com/cuba_cea/status/1258864730481012737 According to the source, this technique allows producing high-resolution images of the surface of a sample at microscopic sizes, and has applications in different branches, such as in the petrochemical and metallurgy industries. Inaugurated last July as the national headquarters for research in this field, and focused mainly on the areas of biotechnology and medicine, the CEA is dedicated to the development of nanosciences and nanotechnologies. https://oncubanews.com/cuba/ciencia/cuba-inaugura-un-centro-de-estudios-avanzados-en-nanociencias/ Located west of Havana, the CEA is multidisciplinary. Among its main purposes is to promote the presence of Cuba in the international market for bionanotechnology, a discipline that seeks to build machines at the nanometric scale using the knowledge of molecular biology. Last March it was learned that the CEA contributes to the development of the country, since it is projected to obtain...

Cuba registered 12 new positive cases with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and three deaths from COVID-19 at the close of Saturday, Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology of the Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), reported at a press conference. Almost two months after the first reports of people infected with the coronavirus on the island, 1,766 cases and 77 deaths from the disease have already been reported, according to official data. 12 new cases of #COVID19 were confirmed, for a total of 1766 in #Cuba. ▪ 594 active positive cases ▪ 488 with stable clinical evolution ▪ 1 critically ill patient ▪ 5 patients in serious condition ▪ 77 deceased ▪ 1,193 discharges ▪ 2 evacuees https://t.co/Ew2SqIpxFi twitter.com/rH26jLj9TJ Source: Cuban Ministry of Public Health (@MINSAPCuba) May 10, 2020 Until yesterday there were 1,894 suspicious patients hospitalized in Cuba; 494 others are active cases of COVID-19, one of them in critical condition and five in serious condition. A total of 4,081 people are in their homes under public healthcare epidemiological surveillance. Durán stated that 53 people were discharged on Saturday, and now the island has a total of 1,193 people recovered after being hospitalized for testing positive to the coronavirus....

The virtual stores of the Cuban state corporation Cimex will close in stages in the coming weeks to “perfect the inventory and billing management system.” According to a note published by Cimex on its Facebook profile, each store will notify of its closure on its page on the TuEnvío platform (www.tuenvio.cu), used by the corporation for its e-commerce operations. “The precise closing date will be reported on each page in due course,” the note said. https://www.facebook.com/cimexcuba/posts/644462779743332 Cimex reported that during the closing the home deliveries and in-store deliveries ―of stores distributed in all Cuban provinces―of the purchases already made by customers will be maintained, “but no new orders will be received during work days.” A corporation official explained to the official Cubadebate site that “closings must occur during one day, a day in which several processes will be automated and all inventories will be reconciled.” However, the page of the Carlos III store in Havana, which has already stopped operating, this Friday notified customers that its closure would last for several days, until next May 12, due to “adjustments in its logistics process.” Screenshot of the Carlos III virtual store page on the TuEnvío platform, on Friday, May 8, 2020....