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....

According to the newspaper Tribuna de La Habana, as of Friday night at 8 pm the Centro Habana municipality was left in isolation by decision of the Provincial Defense Council (CDP). Since last Wednesday, says the note, measures have been increasing to create the conditions for this epidemiological status. Luis Antonio Torres Iríbar, president of the CDP, told the press: “we’re not talking about quarantine, only defined increased measures to confront COVID-19, associated with social isolation, the epidemiological situation, health personnel, the protection of the population and social communication.” The authorities also specified that not all the streets of the municipality will be closed, since urban traffic would be interrupted. It was decided that the buses would pass through the site without stopping. https://oncubanews.com/cuba/reforzaran-aislamiento-social-en-centro-habana-por-expansion-de-la-covid-19/ Similarly, there is a proposal for Centro Habana and the Popular Councils of Luyanó Moderno (San Miguel del Padrón) and of Latinoamericano (Cerro). It consists in giving each family nucleus an identification card to buy products in the stores and points of sale of the Cimex, Caribe and Caracol groups. It was announced that the bearer of the document must be of legal age and that the measure is implemented to contribute to the order and...

Cuba did not report deaths today, but 13 cases of infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, a disease that since the pandemic was declared has left 74 dead and 1,754 patients on the island. The report, which closed at midnight on Friday, May 8, was given by Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), who commented that the country has a 4.2% death rate, ranking it in 13th place in the Americas region. The new infections correspond to Cubans. Their distribution by province is as follows: Pinar del Río: 1 case (from Pinar del Río municipality). Havana: 9 cases (San Miguel del Padrón and Boyeros, 2 each, Old Havana, Centro Habana, Arroyo Naranjo, Diez de Octubre and Plaza de la Revolución, 1 each). Matanzas: 2 cases (from Matanzas municipality). Ciego de Ávila: 1 case (from the municipality of Venezuela). https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1259115504087764994 Of the new patients, six had contact with positive cases, and the same number of individuals did not specify the source of infection; one was reported has having the origin of the infection abroad. Eight are women and the most affected age groups were: 40 to 60 years, with seven individuals;...

According to a report by the Agencia de Información Nacional (AIN) news agency, the Immunoassay Center (CIE) has just completed the development stage of the UMELISA SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test, a reagent from the SUMA network of laboratories capable of detecting the new virus in more people. The communicator and specialist of the CEI Deputy Department of Investigations, Rebeca González Fernández, said that since the beginning of the pandemic, work has been underway to put to use the SUMA technology during the health crisis. All Cuban municipalities have a network of SUMA laboratories, which allows reaching a greater number of investigated population with emphasis on asymptomatic people who have the disease. https://youtu.be/-uva4oo46k4 She also said that field tests will be carried out to cover the protocol outlined by the State Center for the Control of Medicines and Medical Equipment. Then it would go to the production, distribution and training stage for the network of laboratories. There is a vast experience with SUMA technology, since it has been used on the island since the 1980s. Having its own technology to detect the new coronavirus guarantees lower production costs and reduces the import of highly prized products due to the current crisis. The...

The pace of the pandemic in Cuba continues to show encouraging figures. Yesterday 12 new infections were reported, although one person died, the authorities from the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported today. The most recent victim of COVID-19 was a woman resident in Plaza de la Revolución municipality, Havana. She was 77 years old and had a medical history explained in the report. Now the total death toll is 74, while the contagion reaches 1,741 people. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1258750840996839424 Yesterday’s 12 identified cases were Cuban: 10 had contacts with confirmed cases and in two individuals the source of infection is not specified. Their residence by province and municipality is as follows: Havana: 4 cases (2 from the Arroyo Naranjo municipality; San Miguel del Padrón and Centro Habana, 1 each). Matanzas: 1 case (from Cárdenas municipality). Villa Clara: 3 cases (2 from Santa Clara municipality; 1 from Corralillo). Ciego de Ávila: 2 cases (from the Morón municipality). Camagüey: 1 case (from Camagüey municipality). Las Tunas: 1 case (from Amancio municipality). Of all the new infections, seven were male; the most affected age groups are concentrated between 40 to 60 years, with 50% of cases, followed by those under 40 (33.3%). Nine of...

The main source of infection for most of the coronavirus-positive Guantánamo people is related to asymptomatic national travelers, said Dr. Aimée Blanco Chibás, head of the Department of Transmissible Diseases at the Provincial Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology. In a note from the digital newspaper Venceremos, the doctor indicated that until now only the origin of the contagion of a patient from the municipality of Maisí, the last confirmed case in that territory, remains to be specified. She added that in the other 16 cases, the epidemiological investigation was concluded, which allowed the tracking and diagnosis of 10 to 15 direct contacts per person to break the chain of transmission by early isolation of the suspects. According to the publication, six Guantánamo residents remain in the Joaquín Castillo Duany Military Hospital in Santiago de Cuba. There have been three discharges of patients from Baracoa, bringing the number of patients who have recovered from the disease to 10 in the province. Dr. Luis Armando Venereo Izquierdo, an epidemiologist at the Provincial Department of Health, reported that among the hospitalized there is the case of 69-year-old man who is progressing satisfactorily despite his history of chronic illnesses. Guantánamo, he said, maintains the...

Yesterday COVID-19 produced 4 deaths and 26 new infections in Cuba. Now, the records stand at 73 deceased and 1,729 patients with the new coronavirus since the pandemic was detected on the island. The information was given this morning by Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), who, after regretting the deaths and offering condolences to families, added that 3 people are reported serious and 5 in critical condition. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1258397722769526785 The deceased resided in the provinces of Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus and Havana. All of them male. A 83-year-old man, resident in Camajuaní, Villa Clara, with a history of high blood pressure and ischemic heart disease; another 79 years old, from Guanabacoa, with hypertension, ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and esophageal neoplasia. The third case corresponds to a 94-year-old man, from San Miguel del Padrón, with bronchial asthma and senile dementia; and, the fourth, to a 92-year-old man, from Sancti Spíritus, with ischemic heart disease and senile dementia. The evolution of all patients appears widely explained in the MINSAP report. The infections reported today correspond to Cubans. Of these, 14 are women and 16 were asymptomatic. The residence by province and municipality of...

The Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) began a research on the immune status of the population, aimed at determining seroprevalence (presence of antibodies) and prevalence of COVID-19 on the island. The study, recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), is the first of its kind in the region of the Americas and one of the few carried out in the world, the Infomed website reported this Tuesday. According to the source specialized in health issues, the research aims to obtain “precise estimates of the immune status of the population, monitor the evolution of the epidemic and identify the most important risk factors to get infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.” A team of epidemiologists, statisticians, virologists and other health specialists has randomly selected around 4,000 citizens, who will be the subject of an inquiry into demographic, clinical and other relevant biological variables. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/how-many-people-are-at-risk-in-cuba-from-covid-19/ The subjects of the sample―representative of the entire Cuban population―will be examined periodically for at least two months as of the first half of May. According to Infomed, the research work is structured around the Cuban primary health care system, and will include the participation of duly qualified professionals from 70 municipalities on the island. Since the...

After a day of encouraging news for Cuba in its resistance to the coronavirus, Dr. Francisco Durán reported this Wednesday morning that the figures remain optimistic. Those recovered already exceed a thousand, and the country has reached the fifth day reporting more discharges than positive cases. Another good news given by the national director of epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) is that yesterday only 18 new infections were registered, and there were no deaths. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1258027826965512192 The distribution by province of the new positive cases is as follows: Havana, 8; Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila and Holguín, 2 each; while Mayabeque and Camagüey reported one each. All of the recent infections correspond to Cubans; 12 had contacts with confirmed cases, 3 had the source of infection abroad and in 3 individuals the origin of the infection was not specified; 10 were women. The most affected age groups are concentrated between 40 to 59 years, with 10 cases, followed by those over 60, with 5 and groups between 20 to 40 years, with 2; 14 people were detected without symptoms. At the close of the information collected by MINSAP, 4 patients were in critical condition and 10...

Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) has again given an update on the progress of COVID-19 in Cuba. At the close of the fourth day of May, only 17 infections were reported, while confirming there were no deaths. Thus, up to the present, 1,685 patients have been registered on the island since the pandemic started being reported, which, on the island alone, has left 69 deaths. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1257666980888403969 The 17 cases reported as of midnight this Monday are Cuban; of them, 10 are women. The most affected age groups are concentrated between 40 and 60 years (7 cases), followed by those over 60 (6); 47.1% of the total was asymptomatic. The geographical distribution of the new patients is as follows: Havana: 9 cases (2 from the municipality of San Miguel del Padrón; the municipalities of Centro Habana, Arroyo Naranjo, Old Havana, Plaza, Cotorro, La Lisa and Diez de Octubre, 1 each). Mayabeque: 1 case (from San José de las Lajas municipality). Matanzas: 1 case (from Cárdenas municipality). Villa Clara: 2 cases (1 from Santa Clara municipality; 1 from Camajuaní municipality). Sancti Spíritus: 1 case (from Sancti Spíritus municipality). Camagüey: 1 case (from Camagüey...

Today’s update: 2 deaths and 19 new COVID-19 infections in Cuba, according to the authorities of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP). The number of patients, which dropped again, now amounts to 1,668 people, while 69 have died due to the pandemic. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1257314682831908864 Those who died at the close of midnight on May 3 were a 79-year-old woman, previously afflicted with lung cancer, hypertension and obesity, and an 82-year-old man with a history of prostate cancer and frequent respiratory infections. The medical evolution of both appears in the MINSAP report. The 19 new infections correspond to Cubans, of which 13 had links to confirmed cases; meanwhile, in 6 individuals the source of infection has not been identified; 16 of them were asymptomatic. The provinces that detected new infections were Havana (16), Matanzas (1), Santiago de Cuba (1) and the Isla de la Juventud (1). Forty-nine patients were discharged yesterday, to join a list of recoveries totaling 876 people. Three patients were reported in critical condition and six in serious condition. Until the closure of the information collected by the MINSAP, 2,543 people remained hospitalized, while 6,188 people were under primary healthcare surveillance. To date, Cuba has processed 55,542 tests. Only...

A Cubana de Aviación flight brought back to the island 83 citizens who were stuck in Ecuador due to the coronavirus pandemic. The IL-96 aircraft that carried out the transfer had previously returned to that Andean nation about 200 Ecuadorians stranded in Cuba. The operation was carried out this Saturday without any complications, organized by the island’s embassy in Quito and its consulate, and supported by the representatives of Cubana de Aviación in Ecuador, where the company only works with cargo. From the Mariscal Sucre International Airport, in the Ecuadorian capital, the flight departed with a group of Cubans who were scattered throughout different provinces of the South American nation, which closed its borders in mid-March, when it also limited inter-provincial mobility and public events. These Cubans were waiting for the resumption of commercial operations, but the Ecuadorian government has decided to extend the closure of its borders throughout the month of May. The only option left then was a repatriation flight, as had happened with the stranded Cubans in Peru and Guyana. Although this humanitarian flight is a relief for all those who boarded, there are still pending requests from Cubans interested in traveling to their places of origin,...

The day after the attack on the Cuban embassy in Washington DC not much is known about the shooter, except that his name is Alexander Alazo, he is 42 years old and resides in Aubrey, a town located about 50 miles north of Dallas, Texas. Public records show that he has connections to Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Florida. According to those public records, to which The Miami Herald daily had access, Alazo lived in Florida in Miami-Dade and Broward counties between 2011 and 2017, the latter year when he moved to Texas. He has no criminal record and is licensed to practice as a masseuse, first issued in Florida and then renewed in Texas. According to a Secret Service spokeswoman, he was arrested on charges of possession of unregistered firearms and ammunition, assault with the intent to kill, and possession of a high-capacity weapon. https://youtu.be/cWm_VRB2Qys CCN # 20065452 of the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department states that at the time of his arrest, to which he had no posed resistance, an AK-47 assault rifle, ammunition, and “a white powder substance were confiscated in a small sachet.” The initial judicial hearing of his case was postponed yesterday, Thursday, April 30, in the...

A COVID-19 transmission event at a homeless center triggered the daily count of new coronavirus infections in Havana and, consequently, in Cuba, where a new record of 74 positive cases was reported in one day. Of the 74 patients―all Cubans―58 cases are related to an outbreak of the virus in a social home that cares for homeless people, among other groups, located in the Havana municipality of Cotorro, said Dr. Francisco Durán, director of epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), in the televised daily report. This Friday, another 14 new positive cases and one deceased linked to this social center had already been reported. The 58 patients related to this site announced this Saturday by the MINSAP, are men and are between 48 and 84 years old. More than half (32) are over 60. According to Dr. Carlos Alberto Martínez, provincial director of health in Havana, none of them belongs to other open events in places where a greater number of cases were concentrated in the island’s capital. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/cuba-reports-its-highest-number-of-coronavirus-infections-in-one-day-74/ This Saturday, the Provincial Defense Council “analyzed the characteristics and measures applied to these patients,” reported the newspaper Tribuna de La Habana, without giving further details. Out of the...

Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which allows U.S. citizens to sue companies that profit from nationalized properties in Cuba, this Saturday marks its first year in force without an avalanche of lawsuits, but with negative effects on foreign investment on the island. Amazon, Visa, BBVA, MasterCard, Barceló, Pernod, Meliá, Expedia, Iberostar, Accor, Royal Caribbean, NH Hoteles, Trivago and MSC are some of the more than fifty companies that were initially sued, although some of them have since been excluded for diverse reasons. So far, only 25 Title III lawsuits have been filed against 51 companies, some of them included in several legal actions, of which 45.4% are from the United States and the rest from ten different countries, including Cuba. Of the claims, 11.3% are against companies from countries of the European Union and among them the Spanish ones are the most numerous. These figures are from the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, a private entity that has compiled all the information from the first year of its coming into force. In an anniversary article, the Council wonders if President Donald Trump’s decision to activate Title III has been a “judicial or political” success, but it does not hesitate...

A batch of medical supplies donated by former Chinese students in Cuba and several companies in that country is being processed by the Ministry of Public Health for distribution in hospitals coping with the coronavirus. These are 258,000 facemasks, 62,000 pairs of gloves, 40,000 protective suits, 9,600 medical bed liners, 1,400 blankets and 600 infrared thermometers with spare batteries. “Now we’re organizing it according to the instructions of MINSAP, and then we will begin the distribution,” said the director of EMSUME, Dr. Rolando Rederos. Photo: Xinjua. The donation of the former Chinese students in Cuba was coordinated by Chen Ke, a young man who studied a Spanish language degree in Havana between 2009-2013, and now works the Latin American market in a tourism company. “When we found out that Cuba needed medical supplies to deal with the epidemic, we came up with the idea of ​​organizing the donation,” Chen said. To buy the supplies, in two weeks they raised about 20,000 dollars, donated by almost 300 people, most of them former scholarship students in Cuba. “We have a deep affection for this country, where we learned to share and be united,” Chen said.

The Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported this Sunday 38 infections of the new coronavirus, so the number of confirmed cases on the Island amounted to 1,649, while one deceased and 62 medical discharges were reported at the close of Saturday, May 2. Dr. Francisco Durán, director of epidemiology of MINSAP, specified in a press conference that there are five people in critical condition and eight in serious condition. The remaining 740 active cases show a stable clinical evolution. The MINSAP report specifies that a total of 2,744 patients are hospitalized and there are 1,947 suspects, while another 6,515 people are under primary healthcare surveillance in their homes. Of the new 38 positives cases, 36 are contacts of already confirmed patients and the source of infection of two is being investigated. Cuban health authorities began to report cases without a specified source of infection on April 5, the date on which 207 positive patients with these characteristics have been reported. However, Dr. Durán explained that of this number, there are only 63 patients with no identified sources of infection. https://oncubanews.com/cuba/centro-habana-la-vida-sigue-igual/ On the other hand, 89.4% (34) of Saturday’s cases were asymptomatic. According to the daily report of MINSAP, 668...

The Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported this Saturday its highest number of new cases of COVID-19 in one day, with 74, which is why the total number of people infected on the island rose to 1,611. In addition, this Friday, May 1, two deaths occurred and there were 51 new discharges, bringing the total number of deaths to 66 and the recovered patients 765, a figure similar to that of patients who remain hospitalized (778). Of the latter, 767 remain stable, while four are in critical condition and seven are in serious condition, according to the MINSAP report. https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1256595713607294979 As for this Friday’s new cases, the 74 were detected after 2,097 tests were made and all are Cuban. Of these, 70 (94.6%) were contacts of confirmed cases and in 4 (5.4%) the source of infection is not specified. Of these cases, 65 (87.8%) were men and 9 (12.2%) women. The most affected age groups were: the group of 40 to 60 years with 32 cases (43.2%), followed by those over 60 with 30 cases (40.5%). MINSAP specifies that 87.8% (65) of the positive cases were asymptomatic. By provinces, Havana once again captured the majority of new infections, with...

The first Henry Reeve Contingent medical brigade made up only of women arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on May 1 to help combat COVID-19. The group’s coordinator, Yaquelín Ramírez Díaz, said that they will work with the professionalism that characterizes them and that they will face the pandemic along with another brigade that is providing services in that Caribbean nation. https://youtu.be/mgI8a6TnVFw In Trinidad and Tobago, they will work in the intensive care services. They have received courses on the behavior of the COVID-19, the necessary protection measures and the protocol to follow. Since the pandemic began, Cuba has sent 25 brigades totaling more than 2,000 doctors and health workers to different countries in the Caribbean and Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, including Italy, Andorra, South Africa, Qatar, Angola, Honduras, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, Grenada and Belize.

April, Cuba’s second month in its fight against COVID-19, closed with 1,537 infections and 64 deaths, according to the daily report by the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP). Yesterday 36 infections were detected and three deaths occurred. The deaths are limited to Havana, specifically the municipalities of Habana del Este, Old Havana and Cotorro: an 86-year-old man, a 72-year-old woman and a 58-year-old man, respectively. Its medical file can be consulted in the MINSAP report. The residence by province and municipality of the 36 confirmed cases, all Cuban, is distributed as follows: Havana: 29 cases (14 from Cotorro municipality; 5 from Centro Habana municipality; 4 from San Miguel del Padrón municipality. Boyeros, Arroyo Naranjo, Old Havana, Cerro, Guanabacoa, Habana del Este municipalities, 1 each). Matanzas: 3 cases (Martí, Matanzas and Jovellanos municipalities, 1 each). Villa Clara: 1 case (from the municipality of Manicaragua). Sancti Spíritus: 3 cases (from Cabaiguán municipality). https://twitter.com/MINSAPCuba/status/1256243895857528833 Of the total of new patients, 86.1% were contacts of confirmed cases, while the source of infection was not specified in 13.8% of them; 29 are male and the most affected age groups are concentrated between 40 and 60 years, with 16 cases, followed by those over 60, with...

The Cuban authorities have released 6,579 prisoners in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, which until this Thursday had left 61 dead and 1,500 positive cases on the island, where heavy penalties are applied for crimes involving the spread of epidemics and no positive cases have yet been reported in prisons. The president of the Criminal Court of the Cuban Supreme Court, Otto Molina, specified that in March and April 421 people who were serving provisional prison were released and will now await trial in their homes with the “relevant restrictions,” while another 6,158 were granted early release. In the case of the latter, “the Court appreciated that with the time (of the sentence) served it is not necessary to reach the end of the sentence in confinement” and decided to grant parole and extra-penal licenses to the prisoners, explained Molina on Cuban state television. Cuba is in the limited local transmission phase of the COVID-19 and the government maintains strong measures that include the limitation of movements, the suspension of public transportation, the closure of borders, and the closure of large shopping centers, although not yet decreeing the mandatory confinement. The Cuban authorities assure that at the moment there...

According to the newspaper Adelante, from Camagüey, despite not having positive cases in the province for the new coronavirus for the last 24 hours, the local health authorities called for intensifying hygiene measures and social isolation, seeking to keep the peak of the epidemic as flat as possible. According to the source, 120 people are hospitalized for clinical-epidemiological surveillance, with only eight confirmed positive patients. In the different isolation centers there are 360 ​​contacts of confirmed cases. As no positive cases were reported this Thursday, positivity dropped to 1.4%. https://oncubanews.com/cuba/decretan-cuarentenas-en-zonas-afectadas-por-coronavirus-en-matanzas-y-camaguey/ The active screening reached more than 297,000 Camagüey residents. A total of 194 suspected acute respiratory infections were identified, but no suspect was found. Regarding self-screenings, 1,594 people used the computer tool, six reported contacts with confirmed cases in the territories of Camagüey, Nuevitas and Najasa. They were seen to by the municipal health departments. A total of 160 persons were reported as having respiratory symptoms. False information was not received. The end of the quarantine was announced in the People’s Council of Argentina, in the municipality of Florida. Dr. Juan Jesús Llambías Peláez, director of the Provincial Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Microbiology, said that seven of the 37...