REGIONAL – Cuba confirms its first three Coronavirus cases

(Source: HAVANA TIMES) – The fear that the coronavirus could arrive in Cuba at any moment has now become a reality with the first confirmed cases.

On Wednesday, March 11, the State TV newscast reported that three infected Italian tourists have been detected.

Below we publish the full press release:

Press Release from the Ministry of Public Health: Three tourists in Cuba have the new coronavirus

The evolution of the three confirmed patients is favorable and none to date presents a danger to their lives.

Our country has been preparing to confront the pandemic caused by the appearance of the new coronavirus, which affects more than one hundred countries today and has caused a considerable number of sick and deceased.

As a result of the implementation of the National Plan for the Prevention and Control of this disease, and the intensive surveillance of Respiratory Syndromes, suspicious cases have been identified and hospitalized.

On March 10, 2020, four Italian tourists with respiratory symptoms were identified who were staying in a hostel in the city of Trinidad in Sancti Spíritus province and who had arrived at the José Martí International Airport in Havana on Monday, March 9, traveling that same day to Trinidad.

They were immediately admitted to the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK), in Havana.

On March 11, 2020, the IPK National Reference Laboratory reported that three of the four tourists isolated since the previous day were positive for the New Coronavirus SARS CoV-2.

Epidemiological surveillance and control actions are being carried out on people identified as contacts, who remain asymptomatic.

The evolution of the three confirmed patients is favorable and none to date have been in life-threatening situations.