Cuba sees new record high of daily Covid cases

IANS

Havana, 21 Apr 2021: Cuba has reported 1,183 new Covid-19 infections, the highest record in one day since the onset of the pandemic on the island, bringing the accumulated total to 95,754 cases, as well as seven more deaths, to total 538, the Ministry of Public Health said.

 

The high number of infections in the last day reflects “the complexity of the epidemiological situation in the country, with a very high transmission rate in some regions,” Francisco Duran, the ministry’s national director of hygiene and epidemiology, said on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

 

Havana reported 544 cases in one day, with an incidence rate of 365.5 per 100,000 inhabitants.

 

Cuba has been facing a new wave of Covid-19 infections since January, as authorities have moved to regulate the closure of many public spaces, restrict mobility, and require testing and quarantine for arriving travellers.

 

Meanwhile, the third and final phase of clinical trials for the Cuban vaccine candidate Soberana-02 continues in Havana alongside an intervention study among health workers, while Phase II clinical trials for another vaccine candidate Soberana Plus continue in the capital.

 

In addition, Phase III clinical trials and an intervention trial for the vaccine candidate Abdala are being carried out in the eastern part of the country, while two other candidates, Soberana-01 and Mambisa, are at different stages of research.