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 stop the current outbreak of covid-19, the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap) reported on Monday.
The institution stated in an official text that the decision to “reduce the entry of passengers” 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 Cuban residents.
Minsap highlighted the increase in the number of imported cases of covid-19 recorded with the arrival of international flights and which accounted for 71.5% of all infections detected in recent weeks.
According to the agency, most of these cases are associated with Cuban citizens in 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 end-of-year holidays with their families.
To this end, “the Cuban Civil Aviation 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, noting whether the reduction in passengers will be in terms of the number of passengers. passengers or flights.
Last week, Cuba set a mandatory requirement for all international travelers to submit, starting January 10, a negative PCR test performed 72 hours before the flight.
Cuba reported 217 cases of new coronavirus last Thursday, including 101 imported, “the highest number of infections since the beginning of the epidemic” in March, according to the official Granma newspaper reported at the time.
At the end of Saturday, the island with 11.2 million people reported 11,205 cases and 142 deaths.