The Havana authorities recognized violations and problems in the control of COVID-19 in the city, which has become the epicenter of the current outbreak of the disease in Cuba.
During the daily meeting of the Provincial Defense Council (CDP), the main leaders of the Cuban capital “called for looking into the causes that motivate the growing number of infections” and listed a group of difficulties detected in dealing with the coronavirus, among them the “lack of in-depth screenings, including those carried out by medical students in the community, in addition to other violations of control measures, such as those related to rigor in places where there are foci of the pandemic,” Tribuna de La Habana reported.
Luis Antonio Torres Iríbar, president of the Provincial Defense Council, acknowledged that “there is a breach of norms and protocols in the municipalities that cannot be allowed” and pointed out that “when they occur, those responsible should be punished.”
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At the meeting, the SARS-CoV-2 transmission event opened in the Carlos Baliño Cigar Factory was particularly analyzed, “in order to evaluate causes, conditions and violations that led to transmissions in the entity,” said Tribuna, according to which “it was known that two workers came to the center with symptoms of a cold, and today there are 26 positive cases of COVID-19 in that place.”
“Officials from that entity recognized a lack of control and a breach of protocol, while the highest authorities of the city called for lessons to be learned from what happened so that it is not repeated in other units,” the official publication adds in this regard.
At this Tuesday’s CDP meeting, “criteria were also discussed about deficiencies in the provision of services in health centers, delays in the delivery of PCR results, non-compliance with hygienic-sanitary norms and physical distancing in queues in shops,” while “an analysis was carried out on the completion of the medical and paramedical staff in some hospitals in the city,” at a time when infections and hospitalizations are increasing in Havana.
The Cuban capital today shows a complex epidemiological panorama, characterized by a high number of new infections detected every day, numerous open foci, and a wide spread of the virus throughout all of Havana, which has led to extreme measures in the city, including a night curfew and local restriction on sales. Municipalities such as Centro Habana, Old Havana, Regla, La Lisa, San Miguel del Padrón, Cerro, Plaza and Diez de Octubre are among those with the highest incidence rate in recent weeks on the island.
This Monday, 488 positive cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Havana—more than half of the 937 registered in the country—as a result of the processing of 6,226 samples. Of these cases, 462 were autochthonous and 26 imported. In addition, on that day three people died in the capital due to the disease, and 40 patients were in intensive care: 16 in critical condition and 24 in serious condition, according to Tribuna.
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