Regarding the COVID-19 epidemic, Cuba maintains a very favorable situation and this achievement confirms the effectiveness of the protocols followed to fight the virus, as well as the quality of the vaccines developed by the island’s scientists.
Such a statement took place at the meeting of experts and scientists on health issues, held this Tuesday afternoon at the Palace of the Revolution, chaired by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Diaz -Canel Bermudez.
The usual mathematical models used to draw conclusions and make forecasts were the starting point to describe contemporary Cuba in relation to COVID-19 from an expert perspective. The analyzed figures indicate, for example, that the past four weeks indicate that all provinces have further reduced the incidence of confirmed cases and maintained control of the epidemic.
All areas of the country are forecast to have a tendency to control the number of cases and that the number of confirmed and active cases will decrease in the coming weeks. This is good news that was shared at a conference also attended by Politburo member and Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba Manuel Marrero Cruz and Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella from the Presidency.
Referring to the high level of immunization achieved as a result of the vaccination process, President Díaz-Canel spoke of the importance of “not trusting ourselves because what we cannot do is lose the level of immunity that we have”. For his part, the Prime Minister emphasized working in community to avoid problems or setbacks on what has already been achieved.
Precisely that universe – that of the community – in which the fate of all Cubans will be decided was the second point of the meeting of experts and scientists: a presentation was given on the community involvement in the control of Aedes Aegypti and on studies of Evaluation of the social research group of the Institute for Tropical Medicine «Pedro Kourí» (IPK), as well as the potential for generalization of the best ideas.
The Doctor of Science, Dennis Pérez Chacón, was responsible for presenting the topic, which, among other things, explained the value of the Community Working Group as a fundamental cell in the organization of work against a disease that is afflicting the Caribbean country.
The conference discussed the training of those who have to work in the community, permanent surveillance and vector control, while also emphasizing the importance of using the dynamics of local development projects in the fight against dengue, promoting popular education and not the warping of the spaces that virtual networks offer.
One guiding principle remained: in the face of afflictions like that of Aedes Aegypti, getting to the root of all causes will be very effective; that is, attacking mosquito breeding grounds, the existence of which largely depends on human behavior.
Health issues in numbers
The afternoon of this Tuesday also saw the meeting of the Temporary Working Group on the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 at the Palace of the Revolution, chaired by President Díaz-Canel and also counted by the Presidency with Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz and with the Vice President of the Republic Cuba, Salvador Valdes Mesa.
Several interesting data were shared at the meeting by the Minister of Public Health of Cuba, José Angel Portal Miranda, who stated that at the end of the 40th week (marked with the date October 8th) the transmission of the COVID-19 epidemic it was down 73.2 percent on September.
As the headline suggests, the highest transmission rates in October occurred in the provinces of Matanzas, Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey and Holguín. These areas are where 72.1 percent of the cases diagnosed in the country this month are concentrated.
At the end of the 40th week, according to Portal Miranda, the introduction of COVID-19 cases into the country fell by 44.4 percent compared to September; and in the past 14 days, 69 cases have been diagnosed as positive for the disease, giving an incidence rate of 0.6 per 100,000 population. The country has recorded 8,530 deaths from the new coronavirus, a case fatality rate of 0.77 percent throughout the epidemic.
In the current year, according to the headline, 207 deaths have been reported, with a mortality rate of 0.14 percent. And regarding the vaccination process, Portal Miranda stated that more than 98 percent of the vaccinable population already have the full system; while 86.3 percent have booster doses on their account.
The epidemiological situation regarding dengue was also on the agenda. According to the Minister of Public Health, at the end of the 40th week, 15 provinces, 44 municipalities and 62 health areas have reported transmission of the disease.
The incidence rate of suspected dengue cases – according to the headline – has increased slightly compared to the previous week; and the provinces with rates higher than national are, in descending order, Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba, Sancti Spíritus, Camagüey, Havana, and Las Tunas.
With regard to the epidemiological situation of monkeypox, it was announced at the meeting that, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 71,000 patients were registered in 105 countries. In the Americas, 39,356 cases have been confirmed in 31 countries (with five deaths).
Ninety-six percent of those confirmed are concentrated in five countries in this region (the United States, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and Canada). 97 percent are men with an average age of 35 years.
As far as Cuba is concerned, eight cases have been confirmed so far (five in Havana, two in Cienfuegos and one in Artemisa. All are adults, six males and two females.