MIAMI, United States. – Cubans authorities announced this Saturday they were lifting the compulsory quarantine required of travelers arriving from South Africa, Sierra Leone, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Malawi and Eswatini (Swaziland).
The measure, adopted in December 2021 due to the high transmission of the Omicron coronavirus variant in those countries, was proposed and adopted during the last session of the provisional Task Force against the pandemic, which is headed by president Miguel Díaz-Canel.
The decision to lift the health restrictions for travelers from these African nations is the result of “the present global epidemiological situation and particularly in Cuba,” according to information shared by Cuba’s minister of Public Health, Ángel Portal Miranda.
“For travelers coming from those countries, we have also lifted the obligatory tests upon entering our ports and airports, and will follow those protocols applied to travelers from other countries,” according to the portal Presidencia de Cuba.
Until yesterday, travelers arriving from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Malawi and Eswatini had to comply with the compulsory quarantine. In addition, upon arriving in Cuba, they had to present their full vaccination record, and a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival, performed in their country of origin.
At the gathering this Saturday, Díaz-Canel acknowledged that, in spite of fewer contagions in the island, “very elderly people are dying with certain complications.”
“We have to avoid those risks among the elderly, and this will be accomplished through measures taken in the primary care system, where the family doctor must make regular house calls to determine any case that presents such complications,” Díaz-Canel added.
This Sunday, the Public Health ministry reported 898 COVID-19 cases for yesterday, when five patients died, all over 70 years of age.
Of the total contagions registered, 20 had a contagion source abroad.
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