Cuba surpasses 100 COVID-19 monthly deaths for 1st time

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Cuba surpassed 100 COVID-19 related deaths in a month for the first time, the country’s Ministry of Public Health reported on Saturday, February 27th.

With 102 fatalities from COVID-19 so far, February has already become the deadliest month on the island since the onset of the pandemic last March, the ministry added.

The Caribbean country registered four more casualties and another 720 confirmed cases of coronavirus, taking the national counts to 318 and 49,161, respectively.

Of all new cases, 362 were registered in Havana, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic on the island, followed by the provinces of Mayabeque and Camaguey.

In addition, 100 children under 18 tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the total to 5,465.

Francisco Duran, national director of hygiene and epidemiology at the Ministry of Public Health, noted the importance of self-protection and responsibility for vulnerable people and risk groups to continue trying to protect themselves from the virus.

“I have no doubt, we will be able to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic nationwide,” he said, adding the epidemiological situation across the country is still complex.

He made the remarks as Soberana 02 and Abdala, two of four vaccine candidates developed by the local scientists against COVID-19 will start the third phase of clinical trials in March.

At present, 4,221 active cases have been admitted to hospitals with 59 patients in intensive care units across the country.

So far, 44,566 recovered COVID-19 patients have been discharged from medical facilities, accounting for 90.6 percent of confirmed cases on the island.