Cuba has decided to limit the entry of travelers from the United States, Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and Haiti from January 1, to curb the current resurgence of covid-19, the ministry said on Monday. of Public Health (MINSAP).
The institution argued in an official text that the decision to “reduce the entry of travelers” coming from these countries was taken “taking into account (…) the current national, regional and international epidemiological situation”. and that it will apply even to citizens and residents of Cuba.
MINSAP highlighted the increase in imported cases of covid-19 registered with the arrival of international flights and which accounted for 71.5% of the total infections detected in recent weeks.
Depending on the dependency, most of these cases are associated with Cuban citizens from these countries.
More than two million Cubans live abroad, mainly in the United States, where there are more than a million emigrants, many of whom travel to the island to spend the New Year holidays with their families.
To this end, “the Cuban Civil Aeronautics authorities are readjusting the necessary details with the airlines. As soon as the epidemiological situation allows, the frequency of flights will be gradually restored,” MINSAP said, without specifying whether the reduction of passengers will be in terms of the number of passengers or flights.
Last week, Cuba established as a mandatory requirement for all international travelers who submit, as of January 10, a PCR test with a negative result performed 72 hours before the flight.
Cuba reported 217 cases of the new coronavirus last Thursday, including 101 imported, “the highest number of infections since the outbreak began” in March, the official Granma newspaper reported on that date.
At the close of Saturday, the island of 11.2 million people reported 11,205 cases and 142 deaths.