Help us keep OnCuba alive here Cuba had no deaths from the new coronavirus in the last 24 hours, and health authorities have reported only one contagion, the lowest number since the first cases were reported on March 11. This does not mean that the disease has been eradicated, warned Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology, at today’s press conference: “There may be groups of asymptomatic people who still transmit it,” he said. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1275776623812509696 The reported case corresponds to a 43-year-old man, a resident of Centro Habana, who is related to already confirmed cases. As of midnight yesterday, 214 patients were hospitalized and another 250 were under primary healthcare surveillance in their homes. The country has processed a total of 157,387 tests, of which 2,319 have been positive. Help us keep OnCuba alive here

Help us keep OnCuba alive here The Paris Club offered Cuba a moratorium to pay its debts contracted with that group’s member countries, according to diplomatic sources with knowledge of the negotiations, the Mexican daily La Jornada reported this weekend. “The offer requires new negotiations in the spring of 2021 on unpaid maturities, as well as the future payment scheme,” said a diplomat who spoke on request of anonymity, quoted by the newspaper. “They will also have to pay the fines for the money they owe,” said the source. https://oncubanews.com/cuba/cuba-enfrenta-pagos-cruciales-de-su-deuda-externa-sin-que-se-sepa-de-donde-salen-los-fondos/ According to La Jornada, earlier this year Cuba had requested a two-year moratorium and exemption from penalties for late payments due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2015, the Paris Club wrote off 8.5 billion dollars of the 11.1 billion in foreign debt that the island defaulted on in 1986, plus additional charges to that amount. Cuba’s agreement with the group’s member countries included the restructuring of the debt in annual installments until 2033 and whose interests were written off until 2020. Cuba had to disburse around 80 million dollars last year, with which it paid the total debt with some of the group’s countries. The island’s biggest creditors are Spain,...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here Havana could begin the post-COVID-19 de-escalation and, with it, the gradual return to normality in the next 15 days, according to what was said this Monday at a meeting of the Provincial Defense Council of the Cuban capital. The indicators that express the behavior and evolution of the disease in the city in the last few days “confirm a positive evolution of the epidemiological situation, which, if maintained, will lead to the province moving to phase one of the first stage in the next 15 days, as part of the program conceived for the return to normalization,” noted Tribuna de La Habana. According to the publication, Havana’s highest ranking authorities gave the news based on the forecasts of the mathematical models and the endorsement of the specialists, but asked the population for “responsible behavior” to be able to start the de-escalation, and “full respect for the rules and regulations implemented for the moment.” Luis Antonio Torres Iríbar, president of the Havana Council, affirmed that the capital cannot afford “the luxury of turning back,” at a time when the entire island, except for the capital and the province of Matanzas, started returning to normality, and...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here Three infections were detected in the last 24 hours, according to the island’s health authorities, who are celebrating another day without deaths from COVID-19 in Cuba, whose death toll is still 85. With this data, the case fatality rate on the island is 3.67% and the country ranks 18th in the Americas region, where this rate is 5.05%. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1275418182304571394 Regarding the detected cases, the three are from Havana and in two of them the source of infection is not specified. Women predominated over men this time and, by age group, the three infected were distributed as follows: one under 20 years of age; one, between 40 to 60 and another was over 60 years old. Only one person was asymptomatic. As of midnight yesterday, 217 people were still hospitalized and 267 were under primary healthcare surveillance. The country has processed a total of 155,381 tests. Yesterday, 2,148 were made, most of them in Havana. Follow here the evolution of the pandemic on the island. Help us keep OnCuba alive here  

Help us keep OnCuba alive here Fourteen people, including five children, died during a series of shootings in Chicago on the weekend of Father’s Day. It represents the largest number of victims in the city in a single weekend so far this year, authorities reported today. Among the victims was a 3-year-old boy, who police said was shot Saturday when he was in a car with his father in the South Austin neighborhood. https://twitter.com/Suntimes/status/1275038569309122563 Police said the 27-year-old father was the target when someone shot at the vehicle. Community leaders are offering a 10,000-dollar reward for any information about the boy’s murder. The other victims include a 13-year-old girl who died after being shot in the neck while watching television at home, and two minors, 17 and 16, who died in a separate shooting on Saturday. Police Superintendent David Brown said police are trying to locate those responsible for the violence. He said that “gangs, weapons and drugs” are the thread of those shootings. “The good men of this city were supposed to celebrate with their families on a beautiful day, but instead, a number of Chicagoans will spend Father’s Day mourning the death of their children,” he said this...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here The members of the Cuban medical brigade that battled against COVID-19 in the Italian region of Lombardy are already with their families, in their provinces of origin. After their return from Italy and after complying with two weeks of quarantine, the 52 health personnel of the brigade belonging to the Henry Reeve contingent, specialized in confronting epidemics and disaster situations, started returning home this weekend and were received in their territories by family, friends, colleagues, authorities and residents in general. The celebration for their return coincided with Father’s Day, which took place in Cuba this Sunday, June 21, although without public celebrations due to the coronavirus pandemic. Before leaving Havana, where they complied with the isolation established since June 8, the 36 doctors, 15 nurses and a logistics specialist from the brigade met this Saturday with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and other authorities from the island, Prensa Latina news agency reported. At the meeting, the president highlighted the work carried out by this brigade in Lombardy, specifically in the city of Crema, where they stayed for two months and attended to hundreds of patients, many of them serious, whose lives...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here Again, Cuban authorities diagnosed only three people with COVID-19 in 24 hours. It has been the same figure as that reported on Sunday, and with this the control over the disease is ratified, although “this does not mean it is fully controlled, nor that the risk has decreased,” according to Dr. Francisco Durán at today’s press conference. The new infections were detected in Havana and are Cubans who had had some contact with positive cases and all three were asymptomatic. Men predominate over women. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1275057744555499520 Two of them are in the 20 to 39 years age group; the remaining individual is in the 40 to 59; 10 people were also discharged and only one patient was reported in critical condition. Until midnight yesterday, 240 people were hospitalized, while 327 were under primary healthcare surveillance. Follow the evolution of the pandemic on the island at this link. Help us keep OnCuba alive here

Help us keep OnCuba alive here The Cuban Ministry of Justice (MINJUS) this week issued a birth certificate that recognizes two mothers of a child, which is an unprecedented event in Cuban law. After almost a year of beginning the process to register their son in the Cuban Civil Registry, this Thursday Dachelys Valdés and Hope Bastian obtained the birth certificate in which both appear as mothers, reported the blog Q de Cuir. The birth certificate, issued in Havana, argues that “the registration is under both mothers as it is a case of double maternity, with legal support in article 7 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, which also recognizes the right to form a family, whatever its form of organization and safeguards the best interests of the child and his/her right to be registered.” Paulo Cesar Bastian was born in Florida, where the mothers made use of the assisted reproduction service, an almost impossible procedure for a couple of women in Cuba. In the United States, the family started the process to register Paulo as the son of a Cuban citizen born outside the island. Without acknowledging marriage between women, the MINJUS ruled that it approved putting...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here Cuba reported only three new cases of coronavirus this Sunday, precisely when Father’s Day is celebrated on the island. This is the lowest number recorded since last March, which improves the four cases reported yesterday. Now, there are 2,312 people infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the country since the pandemic began. In addition, no deaths were reported on this day and 32 persons were discharged. In this way, the number of deceased from COVID-19 in Cuba remained at 85, while those recovered amounted to 2,103, 91% of the total positive cases to date. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1274691139040423936 The three new cases, which were detected this Saturday and reported today, are women from Havana who were asymptomatic at the time of the diagnostic test, according to the report issued by the Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP). All three are contacts of previously confirmed cases. By age group, two are between 20 and 60 years old and one is over 60. Thus, the number of active cases in Cuba dropped to 122, of which 121 are in stable condition and one, a 78-year-old patient from the Cotorro municipality of Havana, is in critical condition. The island does not register...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here Cuban Minister of Education Ena Elsa Velázquez announced this Friday that the 2019-2020 school year, interrupted due to confinement, one of the measures imposed to deal with the presence of the coronavirus, will resume on September 1 at all levels of education, while the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year will take place two months later. According to the official, the post-COVID-19 recovery strategy designed by the Ministry of Education foresees that during this first phase, officials and workers will join educational institutions until July 18, although they will enjoy the vacation period from July 20 until August 22. Before returning to the classrooms, it will be essential to prepare the conditions, emphasizing the elimination of overcrowding and compliance with hygienic-sanitary measures, in coordination with government and health authorities, she said. In the second phase, the teaching activities will be resumed and the evaluations will be carried out to finish the 2019-2020 school year, which will run until October 31. Two days later, the 2020-21 school year will begin. The minister also referred to the sale of uniforms, warning that the fabric for their production is imported, so the situation in this regard “has...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here Four new infections from COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours in Cuba, a day in which the health authorities registered not only the lowest number of infections since March but also, according to Dr. Francisco Durán, it is possibly the day with lowest number of hospitalizations: only 296 patients were in hospitals. There were no deaths either, and all the infections were from Havana, from where the only case in critical condition registered by the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) was also reported. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1274339703286882306 Three of these people were asymptomatic and the number of men and women detected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus is the same (2-2). Taking into account the age groups, those affected are between 20 and 39 years old, with 2 cases; from 40 to 59 years, with 1, and over 60 years, with one as well. https://oncubanews.com/especiales/especial-sobre-la-covid-19/ As of midnight yesterday, 34 people received medical discharges and 574 were under primary healthcare surveillance. The country has processed a total of 148,812 tests, of which 2,309 have been positive. Help us keep OnCuba alive here

Help us keep OnCuba alive here A study carried out by Cuban and U.S. scientists in rivers in the central region of the island showed that these river currents have not suffered a high impact from biochemical products, despite the exploitation they are subjected to due to agriculture and other economic activities. This is the first time in 50 years that a team of specialists from both countries has come together to quantify the impact of chemical waste on water quality and its impact on crops, the Agencia Cubana de Noticias news agency reported this Thursday. The results of the investigation were disclosed in the article “Cuba! River Water Chemistry Reveals Rapid Chemical Weathering, the Echo of Uplift, and the Promise of More Sustainable Agriculture,” in the GSA Today magazine. https://www.facebook.com/citmacamaguey/posts/2989650661156542 The conclusion of the study is that Cuba’s rivers have to thank organic agriculture for making its waters more…. Posted by CITMA Camagüey on Thursday, June 18, 2020 As part of the study, scientists analyzed samples from 25 rivers in central Cuba, many of which are a source of water for agriculture and forest areas. According to the news dispatch, the end of Cuba’s economic relations with its partners in...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here Health authorities did not report new COVID-19 victims and the number of infections fell to ten, after 2,543 tests were made this Thursday on the first day of the de-escalation in Cuba, which involves thirteen provinces, many of them with more than forty days without reports of positive cases. The new infections from the SARS-CoV-2 virus correspond to Cubans, limited to six municipalities in Havana. Five are related to confirmed cases and, in five individuals, the source of infection is not specified. The detection of four people in this last group was possible due to population studies applied in risk populations, according to Dr. Francisco Durán, director of epidemiology at the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP). https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1273971207449260038 Women predominate over men (8-2) today and, in terms of age groups, the most affected are those under 40 (3), 40 to 59 (5), and those over 60 (2); 70% of the cases were asymptomatic. Until midnight yesterday, 334 people were still hospitalized for epidemiological clinical surveillance and 664 were under primary healthcare surveillance. The country has processed a total of 146,276 tests, of which 2,305 have been positive. 185 countries report cases of COVID-19 to date,...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here Health authorities today mourn the death from COVID-19 of an 84-year-old man, a resident of Old Havana. With his death the SARS-CoV-2 virus has left 85 victims in Cuba, while the new infections amounted to 15. All are all Cuban, ten were related to confirmed cases, in four individuals the source of infection is not specified and one of them was infected abroad. This is a 44-year-old man, resident in the Centro Habana municipality, who arrived from Peru. This time, infections are concentrated in seven Havana municipalities, confirming that the capital is the province with the highest incidence rate, “with 7.07 per 100,000 inhabitants,” said Dr. Francisco Durán during his usual daily press conference. The only critical case of the day reported by the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) is also in the capital. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1273612037260816385 Among the new infections men prevail over women (8-7) and fourteen of these people were asymptomatic. By age groups, the affected are concentrated in those under 40 years of age (10 cases), between 40 and 59 (four) and those over 60 years of age, with one. Fourteen people were asymptomatic. https://oncubanews.com/especiales/especial-sobre-la-covid-19/ Until yesterday at midnight, 343 patients remained hospitalized...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez affirmed this Tuesday that 3,815 nationals stranded in other countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic have already returned to the island. In addition, he said that “efforts continue” for the return of others, although not specifying their number. “Professionalism and solidarity in the face of the pandemic: Our consulates, together with the Associations of Cuban Residents Abroad, continue to provide care and support to those stranded by COVID19; 3,815 are already in Cuba. Efforts for the safe return of others continue,” Rodríguez wrote on Twitter. https://twitter.com/BrunoRguezP/status/1272869245341200386 The closure of borders in many countries and the stoppage of most airlines’ operations, left abroad some 445,000 Cubans residents on the island, according to figures recently cited by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero. In this scenario, the coordination of the island’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs with authorities from various countries has allowed thousands of Cubans to return to the island from Germany, Ecuador, United Arab Emirates, Spain, United States, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Russia, the Agencia Cubana de Noticias news agency pointed out. In recent statements, the Cuban foreign minister said that Cuba “has spared no effort or resources in the protection...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here Within hours of Cuba starting its gradual return to normality, the health authorities reported today 7 new infections and confirmed that, for the seventh consecutive day, there have been no deaths from COVID-19; the total number of deceased remains at 84. All were detected in Havana and, with this, according to Dr. Francisco Durán, the capital is “the region with the highest incidence rate in the last fifteen days.” The SARS-CoV-2 positive cases were again all Cuban, and of these five were related to people already identified as carrying the virus. Six were asymptomatic. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1273241554556194816 Women predominated over infected men this time (5-2) and, by age group, those affected were under 40 years old (three cases), 40 to 59 years old (3) and over 60 years old (one). As of midnight yesterday, 389 patients were hospitalized while 824 were under primary healthcare surveillance. https://oncubanews.com/cuba/coronavirus-menos-en-la-habana-y-matanzas-manana-cuba-emprende-su-desescalada/ According to the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), 2,320 tests were made in the last 24 hours, with which the country has processed a total of 141,151 tests, of which 2,280 have been positive. Help us keep OnCuba alive here

Help us keep OnCuba alive here After having processed 2,582 tests in the last 24 hours, Cuba did not register any deaths from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to health authorities, and 11 people were diagnosed with the disease: 10 Cubans and a 24-year-old Congolese student. All of the infections are limited to eight municipalities in Havana, and six of them are related to already confirmed cases. The source of infection is not specified in five individuals. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1272881794375979013 Women predominate in this group over men (7-4) and the incidence by age is as follows: under 40, with five cases; from 40 to 59 and over 60, with three cases each group. This time, only three of the new coronavirus positive cases were asymptomatic. Until midnight yesterday, 400 patients remained in hospitals while 552 were under primary healthcare surveillance. https://oncubanews.com/especiales/especial-sobre-la-covid-19/ The country has processed a total of 138,831 tests, of which 2,273 have been positive. The Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported today one patient in critical condition and four in serious condition, all from Havana. Help us keep OnCuba alive here

Help us keep OnCuba alive here The remains of the great Cuban star Rosita Fornés are already in Cuba, confirmed this Monday Cuban Deputy Minister of Culture Fernando Rojas, quoted by the official newspaper Granma. “The coffin of the great artist and her relatives arrived in Havana,” Rojas wrote this morning in his official profile on the Twitter network. https://twitter.com/fernandorojas_6/status/1272335031747383297 For its part, the Cuban Ministry of Culture (MINCULT) published on Facebook that “all the procedures for the transfer of the remains of the great artist have been completed and the conditions have been created to pay her the tribute she deserves.” In an official note it is explained that Fornés’ last wish was “to rest eternally among us, in the family vault of Havana’s Colón Cemetery.” The funeral of the prominent Cuban artist will take place this Tuesday at Havana’s Martí Theater, a ceremony that will be broadcast live on National Television and Cuban Radio, the statement said. “All the essential sanitary measures have been taken to guarantee the most dignified farewell to our National Prize for Theater, Music and Television,” it points out. Starting 10:30 a.m. the doors of the Martí Theater will be opened, along Zulueta Street,...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here The second phase of an ongoing population study in Cuba to detect possible contagions with the coronavirus began this Monday in Havana, the island’s media reported. During this phase, the study on the prevalence and incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection will consider 280 families from the capital’s fifteen municipalities. Its objectives “include estimating the immune response to accumulated incidents according to the main demographic characteristics, the degree to which asymptomatic individuals with infections prevail in the country, and identifying the most important risks of contracting the disease,” Tribuna de La Habana explained. Dr. Nilda Roca, Provincial Deputy Director of Health, told the publication that 971 people will participate in this phase, “the same population universe as the previous stage, belonging to 56 family doctor offices.” According to the official, in the first phase “PCR tests were done using a nasopharyngeal swab, but at this stage IGG tests will be made from blood samples, then subjected to examination in laboratories with the Ultra Micro Analytical System (SUMA).” This will allow examining the tests in the municipalities themselves and in the Provincial Hygiene Center. “Through this test it will be possible to confirm that we are in...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here The Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) today reported the fourth consecutive day without deaths and 14 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The reported cases are Cubans and are concentrated in the provinces of Havana and Matanzas. All of them were asymptomatic at the time of their diagnosis. In addition to the municipality of Matanzas; Arroyo Naranjo, Regla and La Lisa were the other affected Havana regions this time. In fact, the critical case reported today, along with the three seriously ill patients, are concentrated in the island’s capital, as Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology, confirmed during his usual daily press conference. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1272518402368823296 Of the 14 new infections, 9 were contacts of confirmed cases and in 5 the source of infection was not specified. There were more positive men than women (9-5) and, by age group, the most affected were between 20 and 39 years (8 cases), followed by those between 40 and 59 (4), and over 60 (2). Yesterday, 17 patients were discharged, more than the number of hospitalized people, Durán also stressed in his report. At midnight on June 14, 380 people were still hospitalized for clinical epidemiological...

In addition, 25 discharges were given, with which 1,948 patients have already recovered on the island since the pandemic began.

The delegate of the Gran Caribe group in Havana, Isabel Arbona, said these facilities are highly requested by Cuban tourists, a sector that grew last year by more than 600,000 guests compared to 2018.

The Ministry of Public Health reported this Saturday five new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infected to 2,238. The authorities confirmed 21 discharges and no deaths were reported.

Help us keep OnCuba alive here Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Ana Teresita González announced this Thursday via Twitter the official suspension of the 2020 Havana International Trade Fair (FIHAV 2020) due to the new coronavirus pandemic. She said that the organizing committee of the event had decided to break the news this Thursday, even though other meetings aimed at promoting products and services could take place online. “Taking into account the current epidemiological situation of #COVID19, the organizing committee of the Havana International Trade Fair reports that #FIHAV2020 is being suspended. Other events to promote trade and investment in #Cuba could take place online, which will be reported in due course,” she tweeted. FIHAV 2020 would be held from October 1 to 5 at the Expocuba fairgrounds. The fair constitutes an important event in terms of trade and investment in Cuba. Help us keep OnCuba alive here

Help us keep OnCuba alive here According to the QS World University Rankings 2021, which selects the best thousand higher education institutions from all over the world, the University of Havana (UH) entered the group of the top 500 universities from all over the world. More than 20,000 universities participate in the preparation of this world ranking. More than 5,500 universities were evaluated and considered for inclusion in this edition. Universities from 82 countries managed to locate at least one university among the top 1,000. Twelve are Latin American. This highly demanding ranking is based on indicators such as academic reputation, employer reputation, Faculty/Student ratio, citations per Faculty (number of research citations in scientific publications), the international ratio of professors and the number of international students. The rise of the UH is mainly explained by its improvement in the two ranking indicators referring to the internationalization of education. Accordingly, the UH is considered a source of highly employable graduates. If the universities listed in this edition are ordered according to this indicator, the one in Havana ranks in 376th place, with a fairly stable behavior compared to previous editions. Marta Abreu Central University of Las Villas. Photo: UCVL. The Marta...