A few hours after the terrible explosion in the port that shook the center of Beirut, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla sent “heartfelt condolences to the people and the government of Lebanon in the face of the loss of human lives and the many wounded left by the explosion.” “We extend our condolences to the families of the victims,” ​​he wrote on his Twitter account. More than a hundred people were missing and more than 200,000 were left homeless after the explosion that caused more than a hundred deaths and 4,000 wounded this Tuesday in the Lebanese capital, Beirut Governor Maruan Abboud said today. https://twitter.com/BrunoRguezP/status/1290830871348609030?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1290830871348609030%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fmundo%2Fcuba-envia-condolencias-al-libano-por-catastrofica-detonacion-del-martes%2F In statements to local media, Abboud noted that at least a hundred people could not be found and that the damage in Beirut is enormous, at around 3 billion or 5 billion dollars. “About 200 or 250,000 people have been left homeless and we are working to provide food, water and shelter,” he said. The explosion caused a huge shock wave that affected thousands of homes and buildings, destroying glass windows and walls, which has led a large part of that area’s population to seek shelter elsewhere. Lebanese Prime Minister Hasan Diab revealed in...

Help us keep OnCuba alive The SARS-CoV-2 virus left 25 new infections yesterday in Cuba, according to the daily report of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP). There were no deaths, but the active cases reached 240. 551 patients were hospitalized, while 6,466 people were under primary healthcare surveillance in their homes. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1291005782742503424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1291005782742503424%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fcoronavirus-en-cuba-3732-pruebas-arrojan-hoy-25-nuevos-contagios%2F All the contagions are Cuban; 21 were contacts of confirmed cases, in two a source of infection was not specified and two of them were infected abroad. By region, the infections correspond to Artemisa (5 from the Bauta municipality, 3 from San Antonio de los Baños, 2 in San Cristóbal; Caimito and Artemisa and Mariel have 1 each) and Havana (4 from the La Lisa municipality, Habana del Este and Marianao with 2 each; Boyeros and Plaza de La Revolución, 1 case each). The imported cases, both from Venezuela, are limited to the provincial capitals of Cienfuegos and Guantánamo. Men predominate over women (16-9) and 15 were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis. By age groups, those affected are as follows: 11 people between 20 and 39 years old as well as between 40 and 60; two under 20 and one over 60. Cuba has processed a...

Help us keep OnCuba alive Last week, several Democrats in the House of Representatives quietly killed an attempt to roll back aspects of the Trump administration’s sanctions on Cuba Representative Bobby Rush, a Democrat from Illinois, proposed two island-related amendments to the appropriations bill, aimed at alleviating the current administration’s efforts to strangle the Cuban economy and returning to Obama-era policy. Representative Bobby Rush. Photo: Colin Boyle/Sun-Times. One of the measures prohibited officials from blocking exports of food and medicine. The other eliminated the limit imposed on the amount of money that people in the United States can send to Cuba. A coalition of more than 100 groups, including organizations like Just Foreign Policy, Demand Progress, and CODEPINK, supported the amendments and asked Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern, chair of the House Rules Committee, to allow those measures to thrive in the legislative body. McGovern has long opposed the United States' policy toward Cuba. According to his spokesperson Matt Bonaccorsi, though the congressman would have approved the remittances measure, he had some issues with the amendment to stop enforcing restrictions on food and medicine exports. And just a few days later, Rush withdrew the amendments. Representative Jim McGovern. Photo: Robin Lubbock/WBUR. Proponents...

Help us keep OnCuba alive Cuba created a territorial map that identifies 1,026 goods and services with export possibilities, as well as 382 non-state forms of management―private businesses and cooperatives―of different sectors with the potential to export, Granma newspaper reported. “We need exports to grow and that imports be more rational,” Rodrigo Malmierca, minister of Foreign Trade and Investment (MINCEX), recently said, cited by the source. The Cuban government decided to extend the export and import operations―monopolized by state enterprises―to private businesses and cooperatives with the capacity to produce goods and services demanded in the international market. https://oncubanews.com/cuba/gobierno-cubano-da-luz-verde-a-las-exportaciones-importaciones-y-al-mercado-mayorista-para-el-sector-privado/ The foreign trade services, however, will be in charge of 36 state entities that will act as intermediaries between the Cuban self-employed and their clients abroad. According to the source, private business owners who wish to export or import goods and services must have current accounts in Cuban pesos (CUP), Cuban convertible pesos (CUC) and freely convertible currency at Banco Popular de Ahorro, Banco Metropolitano or that of  Crédito y Comercio. The prices of imports or exports will be agreed between the client and the state enterprise that offers the service, for which the value of those products in the closest markets will...

Help us keep OnCuba alive In addition to the already traditional high-end coffee trade with the island, Mitsubishi Corporation values ​​starting new businesses with Cuba that include the acquisition of seafood and the possible purchase of honey and its derivatives. The news came after Miguel Ángel Ramírez Ramos, Cuban ambassador to Japan, met today with Yamasaki Junichiro, deputy general manager of the Energy, Infrastructure and Urban Development Business Department of Mitsubishi Corporation. https://twitter.com/embacubajapon/status/1290153287321153537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1290153287321153537%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fmitsubishi-considera-nuevos-convenios-comerciales-con-cuba%2F Yamasaki has been appointed as the new director for the Mitsubishi office in Havana and during the meeting he took the opportunity to recognize Cuba’s work in the fight against the pandemic and in the commercial sphere, according to the page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . For his part, the Cuban diplomat also updated him on the measures that Cuba is implementing to recover strategic sectors of its economy affected by COVID-19 and referred to the possibility that non-state forms of management can export and import through state enterprises specialized in foreign trade operations. Last February, MC Agri Alliance, a Mitsubishi joint venture with the company Olam International Limited, paid a visit to the Eladio Machín Coffee Processing Plant in Cumanayagua (Cienfuegos province), as well...

Given the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Havana in recent days, massive studies to detect the disease are being carried out in the main Cuban city, according to the island’s Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP). This was confirmed this Monday by Dr. Francisco Durán, director of epidemiology of the MINSAP, who said that rapid tests and real-time PCR tests are being carried out in the 15 municipalities of the Cuban capital, with a view to early detection, prevention and control of the coronavirus. In the usual daily press conference on the epidemic in the country, Durán explained that the greatest amount of tests is being made “in municipalities where there are transmission events, outbreaks of the disease and in those with a more complex epidemiological situation,” Prensa Latina (PL) reported. These currently include Centro Habana, La Lisa, Marianao, 10 de Octubre, Cerro and Habana del Este, even though recent cases have also been detected in other Havana territories. https://oncubanews.com/cuba/la-habana-alerta-ante-nuevos-casos-y-focos-de-coronavirus/ The specialist noted that “it is about finding possible infections in the so-called silent places taking into account the geographical characteristics and mobility of people in Havana” and said that as part of the government’s strategy against COVID-19...

Help us keep OnCuba alive According to a note from the Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN) news agency, after 50 days without presenting cases of coronavirus, Matanzas perceives the high risk of contagion based on visits by residents of other territories to beaches and recreational centers in Varadero, the Ciénaga de Zapata and the provincial capital. All the measures of phase three of the recovery stage are still in force in that province, especially on the beaches and Varadero, which receives around a thousand visitors from Havana daily. Varadero. Photo: Expedia. Mario Sabines Lorenzo, governor of Matanzas and vice president of the Defense Council (CD), said that many bathers go to the Hicacos Peninsula, both in cars and in public transportation, and called for not compromise surveillance and control in order to avoid contagion. According to the note, in Varadero’s tourist facilities active screenings are being carried out and hygiene-sanitary measures are followed, “but the irresponsible must be confronted,” said the governor, “there are no cases of the SARS-CoV 2 virus in the province, there aren’t any in Varadero, we have no hidden cases, that is impossible; what there is is discipline and control, we do have that, and we...

Help us keep OnCuba alive On Monday, and after 22 days without deaths from the pandemic, Cuba recorded one death from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. New infections, meanwhile, amounted to 31 after 3,389 tests. The 88th victim of the pandemic is a Cuban resident in the municipality of 10 de Octubre. According to the report issued today by the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), the 84-year-old man was hospitalized with fever and his health worsened with disorders of consciousness, low blood pressure and anuria that led to intensive therapy. Cardiorespiratory arrest cost him his life, and after necropsy, the diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1290639168431968258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1290639168431968258%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fcuba-la-covid-19-vuelve-a-dejar-una-muerte-31-nuevos-contagios-hoy%2F All those diagnosed were Cuban: 17 were contacts of confirmed cases and the source of infection could not be specified in four individuals; 10 were infected abroad. Their number and geographic location is as follows: Pinar del Río: 2 (Pinar del Río municipality). Artemisa: 7 (5 from Bauta municipality; Artemisa and Mariel with 1 each). Havana: 17 (7 from La Lisa municipality; Cerro, Playa and Marianao with 2 cases each; Boyeros, Plaza de La Revolución, 10 de Octubre and Habana del Este with 1 case each). Sancti Spíritus: 1 (Sancti Spíritus municipality). Ciego de Ávila: 1...

Help us keep OnCuba alive The Group of Cuban Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries (BioCubaFarma) announced on Monday the constitution of the joint venture BioFarma Innovations, together with the United Kingdom company SG Innovations Limited, Cuban state media reported. The new joint venture will be “focused on accelerating development and accessibility in Europe and the British Commonwealth of innovative and leading medicines worldwide,” according to a note published on the website of the Cuban business group. https://twitter.com/BioCubaFarma/status/1290137074943713282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1290137074943713282%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fnueva-empresa-mixta-une-a-cuba-con-el-reino-unido%2F BioFarma Innovations will enable the evaluation of the products of the portfolio of Cuban biopharmaceutical companies in Europe and the British Commonwealth. In addition, it will make for investment in the development and launch of new drugs in that market, including the different clinical trials developed for the treatment of COVID-19, which have shown “encouraging results” on the island, the note indicates. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/new-cuban-drug-with-very-encouraging-results-against-covid-19/ The president of the entity, based in the United Kingdom and Ireland, will be British politician, banker and former union leader Lord David Triesman, who has more than 40 years of experience working with the National Health Service, was Under-Secretary of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and of the Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster Area Health Authority. Lord David Triesman...

Help us keep OnCuba alive The pattern followed by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, is already familiar: he makes a stunning assertion, on Twitter or impromptu, and the head scratching begins. Was he serious? Was he trying to divert attention from other negative news? His allies shrug and ignore his statements. Some often claim that they have not read or heard them. Indifference sets in among the population, to the point that even Trump’s staunchest detractors have a hard time channeling that outrage. But a statement by the president stood out, even among many who have defended his presidency. https://oncubanews.com/mundo/trump-sugiere-postergar-las-elecciones-en-eeuu/ With his dwindling popularity and engulfed in a series of crises, Trump dropped on Twitter the possibility of delaying the November 3 presidential elections, a suggestion more in line with the autocrats who try to nullify the population’s voting capacity than with the leader of the world’s first democracy. It was a tweet that mattered and could not be ignored, even by Republicans who had been letting him get on with it for a long time. It was important because it amounted to a blatant attack on the foundations of American democracy, the notion that a country...

Help us keep OnCuba alive The behavior of COVID-19 in Cuba in recent days continues to be “unfavorable,” according to Dr. Francisco Durán during his daily appearance, where he reported that of the 3,485 tests made on Sunday, 24 were positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. All are Cuban, 16 were contacts of confirmed cases, in three individuals the source of infection is not specified and in five the disease was “imported,” according to the report. Women predominate over men (16 -8) and the most affected age groups were: 40 to 60 years, with 13 cases and 20 to 39 years, with seven. Among those under 20 and over 60, only one case was reported in each group; 13 people were asymptomatic at the time of their diagnosis. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1290280398967074816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1290280398967074816%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fsuperan-los-200-casos-activos-por-covid-19-en-cuba-con-los-24-nuevos-positivos-reportados-hoy%2F Of the total, 10 patients were diagnosed in Havana; in the municipalities of Guanabacoa, Plaza de la Revolución, Cerro, 10 de Octubre, La Lisa, Arroyo Naranjo and Marianao. Nine are from Artemisa, in Bauta and San Antonio de los Baños, while the imported cases, all from Venezuela, were added to those registered in the provinces of Pinar del Río (San Luis) and Santiago de Cuba (Santiago de Cuba, San Luis and Songo...

The Cuban drug known so far as CIGB-300 is showing “very encouraging” results against COVID-19 in its first phase of clinical evaluation, according to the official media. The antiviral-action drug was designed by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) in Havana, and is being studied as part of the research being carried out by Cuban science to confront the pandemic, the BioCubaFarma business group said on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/BioCubaFarma/posts/2339509633011464 “With previously demonstrated antitumor efficacy,” the CIGB-300 is the subject of a controlled clinical trial that started last May in patients positive for SARS-CoV-2, pointed out Cubadebate, which doesn’t offer conclusive or preliminary statistics about the trial. The study seeks to find out the efficacy of this drug against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, following the steps of research carried out with other drugs, which have also had good results. In total, the CIGB is currently working on 16 lines of research related to the treatment and control of COVID-19, according to Dr. Gerardo Guillén, director of biomedical research at the renowned scientific institution. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/cuba-inaugurates-plant-to-produce-drug-against-covid-19/ A few days ago a synthetic peptides production plant was inaugurated at the CIGB, which is already producing a drug successfully used as part of the Cuban...

Cuban Minister of Public Health José Ángel Portal affirmed the Kenyan government is working “hard” to guarantee the “safe return” of two Cuban doctors who were kidnapped by suspected members of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group more than a year ago. Portal had a telephone conversation with his Kenyan counterpart, Mutahi Kagwe, in which they discussed the situation of doctors Assel Herrera and Landy Rodríguez, the Cuban minister wrote in his account on Twitter, Cubadebate reported. https://twitter.com/japortalmiranda/status/1289036949160951808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289036949160951808%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fministro-de-salud-kenia-trabaja-arduamente-para-lograr-el-regreso-de-los-medicos-cubanos-secuestrados%2F Kagwe also thanked Cuba for its medical collaboration, and highlighted its good results, in particular the doctors’ contribution to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Cuban minister of public health. Doctors Assel Herrera, specialist in comprehensive general medicine, and Landy Rodríguez, specialist in surgery, were kidnapped in the early hours of April 12, 2019, when the car in which they were traveling was intercepted by jihadist militants in the Kenyan town of Mandera, near the border with Somalia. In the action, the doctors’ bodyguard was killed. Months later, the driver of the vehicle was prosecuted by the Kenyan authorities for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of the Cuban doctors. Although Kenya mobilized the Army and Police to pursue the kidnappers,...

The Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported 13 new cases of coronavirus at the close of this Saturday, which marks a decrease compared to recent days, when a rebound in the disease has occurred on the island, particularly in Havana. Of these infections, all Cubans, 10 were asymptomatic at the time of their diagnosis, and six are imported cases, residing in the province of Pinar del Río, who were in an isolation center upon their return from abroad. The remaining seven are from the provinces of Havana (6) and Artemisa (1), territories that have registered the most complex epidemiological situation in recent weeks, with several outbreaks and transmission events that have forced the strengthening of restrictive measures in the affected areas. Thus, the active cases rose to 188 on the island, of which 187 have a stable clinical evolution and one patient is in critical condition, according to the MINSAP report. Cuba now has a total of 2,646 infected with SARS-CoV-2. In addition, the island has had 21 days without deaths from COVID-19 and there were two new discharges, with which the number of fatalities remained at 87 and the number of recovered amounted to 2,369. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1289917127630245894?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289917127630245894%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fcoronavirus-en-cuba-nuevos-casos-bajan-a-13-seis-de-ellos-importados%2F Of the...

Cuban-American professor Carlos Lazo wrote letters to President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden to bring them a message of peace between Cuba and the United States, backed by thousands of people. Lazo asks to meet personally with them or “whoever wants to hear us in Washington,” where he is headed with two children and two nephews on a more than 5,000-kilometer bicycle trip from coast to coast in the United States. His request, regardless of the political origin of his interlocutors, is one: “respect and love for Cuba.” This isn’t the first time Lazo addresses a letter to Trump. A few weeks ago he wrote to the White House to consider lifting, “even if temporarily, some of the economic sanctions that weigh on the people of Cuba.” Back then, the request was accompanied by a petition on Change.org that obtained more than 20,000 signatures, but so far they have received no response. On this occasion, Lazo addresses the current president and his main political opponent, Biden, in the middle of the bicycle trip from his home in Seattle to Washington DC, “to build Bridges of Love” and bring the signatures of thousands of...

The last day of July has left Cubans with another warning that COVID-19 will not end until a vaccine is available and that the only way to not catch it is by being cautious: there were 25 were new infections and the number of active cases rose to 177. “I’m making a call to attention,” said Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology, in his daily appearance: “There’s a slight increase in the curve of hospitalized patients.” In fact, until midnight this Friday, 459 people remained hospitalized and 3,531 were under primary healthcare surveillance. The good news is that there have been no deaths from the new coronavirus for 20 days. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1289569645985296384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289569645985296384%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fcuba-cierra-julio-con-25-nuevos-contagios-por-covid-19-uno-es-extranjero%2F Twenty-four of the patients registered in the last 24 hours are Cuban and, after months without reporting cases, one of the positive SARS-CoV-2 cases on the island is a foreigner; 16 of the total were contacts of confirmed cases, in one individual the source of infection is not specified and seven were infected abroad. The foreigner is a 43-year-old Frenchman, who resides in the Havana municipality of Playa. This time around the infections were also reported in Plaza de la Revolución, Arroyo Naranjo, Marianao, Habana del Este and...

The hand trembles when writing it: Eusebio is dead. Another life that is leaving us at a time when he was most needed, just after the 500th anniversary of his beloved Havana. It’s not a matter of making an inventory of his numerous merits and decorations―undoubtedly well deserved―for the work of a lifetime. Nor the Honoris Causa received in Havana, Athens, Rome or Montevideo. Neither his status as a distinguished member of the Smithsonian or the Academy of History of Cartagena de Indias. Neither of the orders he received in countries such as Poland, Peru, Colombia, France and Spain, among many others, but to account for the ultimate meaning of his work: the vocation for service. Eusebio was a Centro Habana man who knew how to overcome himself and light up with the star of knowledge, the one that also illuminates and kills. With barely a sixth grade, but with the mind where it was not seen, he took on a long journey by taking over the Office of the Historian and starting to lift Havana from its ruins, stone by stone, a task that many considered impossible at the time, during those years, he will say, “when we were...

Help us keep OnCuba alive A synthetic peptides production plant, in which a drug used successfully in Cuba against COVID-19 will be manufactured, was inaugurated this Thursday at Havana’s Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB). President Miguel Díaz-Canel opened the plant. At the plant, identified with number 14 in the CIGB, the active pharmaceutical ingredient of the drug Jusvinza will be produced, used in the treatment of seriously and critically ill patients with the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, said the official Cubadebate website, which quotes the portal of the island’s presidency. https://twitter.com/PresidenciaCuba/status/1288867927148691456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1288867927148691456%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fcuba-inaugura-planta-para-producir-medicamento-contra-la-covid-19%2F The installed capacity for this stage, according to the source, meets the national demand for the drug, formerly known as CIGB-258, and, in addition, can produce other drugs for the treatment of oncological and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. In this way, the new facility joins the production complex of one of the main scientific centers in Cuba, and expands its possibilities to produce medicines using chemical synthesis technology at an industrial level, Cubadebate affirmed. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/science-cuba/why-has-cuban-biotechnology-been-successful-against-covid-19-i/ The biotechnology industry has vast experience and proven quality in Cuba, which has earned it the recognition of the international scientific community. Its role has been fundamental in...

Help us keep OnCuba alive The data on COVID-19 in the last 24 hours in Cuba continue as follows: 11 new infections as a result of the 3,696 tests carried out in the country, the number of active patients increased to 164 and, as in 19 days ago, no deaths from the disease were reported. All were Cuban, according to the health authorities’ report today, 10 are contacts of confirmed cases and in one individual the source of infection is not specified. By region, they are limited to the municipalities of Bauta (Artemisa), Marianao, Playa, 10 de Octubre and Plaza de la Revolución (Havana) and Camajuaní (Villa Clara). https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1289190549543620608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289190549543620608%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fcoronavirus-en-cuba-mas-de-3600-pruebas-11-fueron-positivas%2F Men predominated over women (6-5) and nine people were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis. No patient was discharged yesterday, and one person was still in critical condition. By age groups, those affected are classified as follows: from 20 to 39 years, 5 cases; from 40 to 60, 4; and under 20 years old, 2. At midnight yesterday, 423 people were hospitalized and 3,450 were under primary healthcare surveillance. With these tests, Cuba has processed a total of 264,147, of which 2,608 have been positive.

Help us keep OnCuba alive Cuba will produce only 7,000 tons of beans in 2020, which represents just 10% of the annual demand on the island, said the head of the department of various crops of the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG), Yojan García, quoted by the official media. Of the planned 46,000 hectares planted to beans this year, the number dropped to 23,500, of which more than half were affected by a lack of fertilizers and pesticides, and 7,500 were completely devastated by a pest, the Agencia Cubana de Noticias news agency reported. García explained that only 8% of the sown quantity received fertilizers, while pesticides reached just 16%, which added to the appearance of the bean flower thrips pest affected yields of 1.15 tons per hectare to only 0.6. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/bean-pest-threatens-cubans-table/ The official attributed the deficit in bean production to the decrease in the level of diesel and the lack of inputs, fertilizers and pesticides, caused by the “intensification of the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade” against the island. The MINAG official reported that to alleviate the shortage of the product so demanded on the table of Cubans, “a considerable level of cowpea beans (Vigna unguiculata), better known as...

Help us keep OnCuba alive On Wednesday night Tropical Storm Isaias formed in the south of the island of Puerto Rico, in the Atlantic, with maximum sustained winds of up to 85 kilometers per hour. Meteorologists from the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) project that it will pass over the island of Hispaniola this Thursday and that it will continue its trajectory to the south of the Bahamas on Friday morning. The storm will lose strength as it crosses Hispaniola, but will strengthen again on Friday. The Cuban Institute of Meteorology (Insmet) issued at six in the morning today the second Tropical Cyclone Warning, in which it warns that the system now has maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour, with faster gusts, and its central pressure is 1003 hectoPascal. Isaias’ center was then estimated at 17.4 degrees North latitude and 68.2 degrees West longitude, a position that places it about 210 kilometers east southeast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It is heading close to the northwest at 33 kilometers per hour. Despite the fact that it would lose strength when crossing Hispaniola, meteorologists warn that the organism will begin to reorganize when it goes out to sea in...

Help us keep OnCuba alive Although the number of hospitalizations for the SARS-CoV-2 virus amounted to 400 and that of people under surveillance in their homes reached 3,436, in the last 24 hours the new infections decreased to nine, as reported today by Cuban health authorities. During his presentation to the press, in which Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology, seemed remarkably upset, he said that the effort being made by millions of people could not be destroyed by “an unruly group,” and warned that measures will be taken so that the pandemic doesn’t get out of control on the island. Regarding the new registered cases, he warned that all were Cuban, six contacts of confirmed cases and three with sources of infection abroad. Eight of them were asymptomatic at the time of their diagnosis. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1288824107778310146 Their geographical location corresponds to the capital’s municipalities of Habana del Este, La Lisa, Guanabacoa, San Miguel del Padrón, Arroyo Naranjo and Boyeros. The contagions from abroad occurred in Venezuela and the Bahamas. Women predominated over men (6-3) among those positive to COVID-19 today, and by age group they are as follows: from 41 to 59 years, four cases; under 20 and 20...

Help us keep OnCuba alive The international airports Vilo Acuña in Cayo Largo del Sur, Abel Santamaría, in the city of Santa Clara, and Jardines del Rey, in the northern keys of Ciego de Ávila, are ready to receive international travelers after being certified for it by the Cuban authorities. This certification allows them to begin their operations by implementing the sanitary protocols established in the face of COVID-19, at a time when a great deal of Cuba is already in phase three of the de-escalation and could receive tourists in several keys adjacent to the main island. Luis Alexander Ochoa, deputy director of the Cuban Aviation Corporation (CACSA), affirmed on state television that all companies in the Cuban aeronautical system have a protocol approved by the Ministry of Public Health and a multidisciplinary team “to guarantee the safety, quality and well-being of all passengers” arriving at international airports. The new regulations establish that “every passenger who enters the air terminals will be subjected to a double check of body temperature.” In addition, “those who arrive from abroad will be required to deliver their affidavit of health, based on a model previously delivered by the airline,” and will be subjected...

Help us keep OnCuba alive The situation has become complicated for Cuba, even when there are no new deaths from COVID-19. Health authorities report today that the infections registered in the last 24 hours rose to 33, while 326 people are hospitalized and 3339 are under primary healthcare surveillance in their homes. All cases are Cuban; 24 were contacts of confirmed cases and the source of infection in seven of the 33 occurred abroad. The source could not be confirmed in two individuals. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1288474253436825601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1288474253436825601%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fcoronavirus-en-cuba-nuevos-contagios-aumentan-a-33-once-de-ellos-no-sobrepasan-los-20-anos%2F The individuals whose source of contagion is abroad correspond to the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Sancti Spíritus and Havana. They came from Venezuela, Mexico and Costa Rica. Fourteen people were diagnosed with COVID-19 in Havana, in the municipalities of Plaza de la Revolución, Boyeros, Centro Habana, La Lisa, Marianao and 10 de Octubre. Artemisa’s infections were detected in the municipalities of Bauta and Caimito. Women predominated over men (14-19) and, by age group, those affected classified as follows: from 41 to 59, 14 cases; under 20, eleven; 20 to 40, five; and over 60, three; 19 were asymptomatic. With the 3,235 tests carried out yesterday, Cuba has reached 256,996 since March, of which 2,588...

Help us keep OnCuba alive The checkbook, the well-known document for the collection of retirement pensions and social security in Cuba, will disappear as of August, when these pensions will start being paid through electronic payrolls. Up to 80% of the more than 1.6 million Cuban social security beneficiaries have so far collected their pensions using the checkbook, a means that easily deteriorates or gets lost, explained the deputy director of the National Institute of Social Security (INASS), Haydée Franco, quoted by the newspaper Trabajadores. With the disabling of the document “the insecurity of the retiree also ceases” as well as “the annual financing of more than 3 million pesos for its renewal” and the “cumbersome procedures” for those who used it, added Franco. Starting next month, retirees will only need their identity card to collect their pension and, if they have one, they can use the checkbook matrix that they used until now, “because it shows the bank control number that will serve as a reference to collect the pension in the event of errors in the identity document,” says the publication. https://twitter.com/50Trabajadores/status/1287723501835694080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1287723501835694080%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fcuba-jubila-la-chequera-las-pensiones-se-pagaran-por-nominas-electronicas%2F The new measure eliminates the payment of pensions in grocery stores, used in some rural areas,...