Cuba is experiencing a
"dramatic increase"
in cases of Covid-19 in several of its provinces where the Delta variant circulates in particular, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday.
Read also: Covid-19: is the Delta variant as contagious as smallpox?
"Covid-19 cases and deaths are on the rise in Cuba, where many provinces are experiencing dramatic increases in contaminations,"
Carissa Etienne, director of PAHO, the regional agency of France, told a press conference. 'World Health Organization. The situation is
"particularly acute"
in the tourist region of Matanzas, she said.
According to Ciro Ugarte, in charge of emergency situations at PAHO, the island of 11 million inhabitants has experienced this week a record of contaminations since the appearance of the virus in March 2020. “More than 43,000 cases have been recorded , which represents an increase of 21% (compared to the previous week), with an average of 6,199 daily cases ”, underlines Ciro Ugarte who specifies that the Delta variant is already circulating
“ in several provinces ”
.
However, he does not establish a link with the recent popular protests that rocked the island on July 11 and 12.
"The number of cases in Cuba was already on the rise before the recent protests
," he said.
Vaccination program
Cuba has not joined the Covax vaccine distribution program, supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and managed by PAHO in Latin America.
However, a vaccination program was launched in mid-May with two of the vaccine candidates developed by Cuban scientists.
As of July 17, 3.3 million people, or
"30% of the population, a still low level"
had been vaccinated by this means, according to Ciro Ugarte.
Cuban authorities hope to vaccinate 70% of the population by August.
