More than seven thousand real-time PCR tests have been carried out in this province to detect the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19, as part of the efforts to prevent the spread of the fearsome disease.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- As a result of the family outbreak generated in the Buena Vista neighborhood, health personnel reinforces epidemiological control and surveillance actions. Dr. Jesús León Silva, head of the provincial department of communicable diseases, said that 80 to 120 PCR samples are sent here daily to the Santiago de Cuba laboratory for processing.
"We have adopted an important group of measures, among them the control at the entry points to the province with the presence of doctors, personnel of the Ministry of the Interior, Red Cross ... We demand the proof of a PCR test of those who arrive in the territory and if not, the protocol is to maintain them under strict surveillance for 14 days.
"Through a database that gives us the information about the roadside station, we immediately send the names, surnames and address of the travelers to the health areas, we proceed to the attention", explains the doctor.
Silva emphasizes the need for people from places in transmission to isolate themselves for the established period when they arrive in Las Tunas and even maintain physical distance at home, complying with prevention.
The outbreak of the disease during the month of August is a consequence, above all, of the current situation in another territory of the country. The outbreak occurs at the expense of a family's relationship with a patient diagnosed as positive in the capital.
As it is known, PCR studies were carried out in the population surrounding the homes of the family related to the Buena Vista outbreak, as well as in places considered at risk where people from the Popular Council work. Disinfection in each center and the demand that no worker comes with respiratory symptoms was also reinforced.
The deputy director of the Provincial Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Microbiology (CPHEM), Aldo Cortés González, explains that the new normal must be understood in order to coexist with the virus and control it. And he affirms: “the panorama in the province is controlled, but keeping it that way depends on discipline, organization, respect and everyone's responsibility.
“We cannot leave the disease prevention alone in the vaccine; we also have to follow the directions. Right now, the most important thing is what we can do ourselves for our health.”
For his part, Dr. Diego Julián Álvarez Dopazo, director of the CPHEM, reiterated that approximately 60 percent of the infected population is asymptomatic; this increases the risk of getting sick, as potential carriers don’t seem to be ill.
He said that in the municipality of Las Tunas there is greater concern on the part of the population. People have already become interested again in the situation and even report on travelers who have not been detected by the system. "We insist that the best vaccine so far is compliance with hygiene measures, physical distancing and social isolation," he concludes.
