{"id":228827,"date":"2020-10-12T12:46:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-12T16:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=228827"},"modified":"2020-10-12T12:46:00","modified_gmt":"2020-10-12T16:46:00","slug":"havana-covid-19-and-the-new-normal-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/havana-covid-19-and-the-new-normal-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Havana, COVID-19 and the \u201cnew normal\u201d (II)"},"content":{"rendered":"

One week after the lifting of a group of restrictions, in force until then to contain the spread of COVID-19, Havana has a different face. It\u2019s not only about increased activity in the streets, which there is, or the return of the buses to the urban landscape, or other opened shops, offices and restaurants and other businesses, but also about the people\u2019s attitude, in the way in which they begin to assume their \u201cnew normal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to adapt, there\u2019s no other way,\u201d said to <\/span>OnCuba<\/b> Luis, an electronics technician and owner of a home appliance workshop which he hopes to reopen \u201cin these days\u201d to improve his personal economy, affected by the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI already reopened it in July, when the coronavirus situation improved, but I preferred to close it when we went back, because the risk was high and health always comes first,\u201d he explains. \u201cNow I\u2019m letting a few days go by to see how everything is going, but I\u2019m ready to start, yes, taking extreme hygiene measures because the disease is not over and cases continue to appear in the city every day. But I have to, because if not, how do I feed my children? \u201c<\/span><\/p>\n

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Workers in a private washing machine repair shop. Photo: Otmaro Rodr\u00edguez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI was dying for them to open,\u201d Marisol, a domestic worker, says, \u201cbecause these months have not been easy. I\u2019ve had to live \u2018inventing\u2019 because I lost my job practically from one day to the next, and although taking out a license has been allowed and the payment of taxes has been postponed, one has to live on something, right?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to her, she has already been in contact with her regular clients, and although some asked her to wait for a while\u2015\u201cthe coronavirus thing has been hard on many people,\u201d she says\u2015others have already given her the green light to start. Her greatest hope, she confesses, is that \u201cthe pandemic will end and tourism can return,\u201d which would allow her to reconnect with a rental house where she worked regularly. \u201cBut in the meantime,\u201d she says, \u201cat least I can start doing something and making some money.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, although many have welcomed the de-escalation that began in October, there is no shortage of misgivings and concerns among Havanans. The government of the Cuban capital <\/span>recognized it<\/span><\/a> a few days ago on the television program Mesa Redonda. Then, the deputy governor of Havana, Yanet Hern\u00e1ndez, cited among the aspects that have generated the most controversy in the population the reopening of beaches and swimming pools, the return of public transportation to 80% of its capacity and the announcement of the restart of the school year next November 2.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Private taxis restart their activities. Photo: Otmaro Rodr\u00edguez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In response, Hern\u00e1ndez confirmed that the reopening that the city is experiencing \u201cconstitutes a challenge and a big one, because we know that the possibility of contagion is high,\u201d but reiterated the Cuban government\u2019s recent discourse during these times\u2015<\/span>emphasized this Thursday<\/span><\/a> by President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel when presenting to the country the update of the strategy to confront COVID-19 on the island\u2014, stressing that this new normal demands \u201cgreater individual, family, community, collective and institutional responsibility in complying with the hygienic sanitary actions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, the economy<\/b><\/p>\n

The words of the Havana deputy governor respond to the approach currently being used by the island\u2019s authorities in the face of the pandemic, a perspective that modifies the strict methodology designed for the first de-escalation in June and July, and which has now had a polygon of proof. It is a more pragmatic strategy, based on the idea of \u200b\u200bforced coexistence with COVID-19\u2015in which the provisions established so far for the transmission and recovery stages are adapted\u2015in tune with what happened in other nations; which preserves the emphasis on prevention, surveillance and epidemiological control and medical care as strengths of the Cuban system, and which, at the same time, reinforces the responsibility of citizens.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to take care of ourselves a little more in our homes and workplaces,\u201d Governor Reinaldo Garc\u00eda Zapata <\/span>told<\/span><\/a> the people of Havana on September 30, announcing the relaxation of restrictions in the capital. \u201cIt must be assumed with commitment,\u201d he said then, and assured that now \u201cthe active and responsible participation of each person, family and community plays an important role to achieve the results we hope for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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State transportation in Havana. Photo: Otmaro Rodr\u00edguez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For his part, Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel, along with a call to continue working with \u201cgreat rigor\u201d in the health system and other state institutions and centers, has also repeatedly appealed in recent days to \u201cindividual, family, collective, community and social responsibility.\u201d This, <\/span>he said<\/span><\/a>, has to \u201cbe constant,\u201d because \u201cby sharing responsibilities we can continue to advance towards a more favorable situation in Havana.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the president and other government figures, the reopening in the capital\u2015as part of the new national plan for the pandemic\u2015is due to the results of the health strategy and the restrictions applied, and to the experiences accumulated during seven months in the confrontation with COVID-19, which have not only made it possible to achieve an improvement in the indicators but also a lesson for the effective management of the disease. And they are right.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the statistics and epidemiological scenario of Cuba are compared with that of most of the world, the good management of the epidemic in the country is obvious, even when the transmission of the coronavirus has not been eradicated and several provinces have experienced a regrowth in the summer months. The success of surveillance and containment measures and medical protocols, the work of health and scientific personnel, and the government\u2019s organization and monitoring of actions against COVID-19, have prevented an explosion in the number of infections and collapse of hospitals and intensive care units, and have kept mortality rates low on the island.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why has Cuban biotechnology been successful against COVID-19? (II)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n