Even when Las Tunas is going through the stage of new normal, the Ministry of Public Health issued an epidemiological alert in the face of the outbreak of positive cases of COVID-19 in the last 15 days, totaling 70, of which 46 are indigenous for an incidence rate of 8.6 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- According to Dr. Viviana Gutiérrez Rodríguez, provincial director of Health, some areas show high incidence rates and the greatest efforts are directed there. These are those belonging to the Romárico Oro polyclinic, in the municipality of Puerto Padre, and "Gustavo Aldereguía", "Guillermo Tejas" and "Piti Fajardo", in the provincial capital.
The directive said that 72 percent of the cases have been asymptomatic and there is an increase in confirmed patients under 20 years of age (11 percent); reasons for which she called for extreme care with children and adolescents.
The Temporary Working Group, she said, approved measures to prevent transmission of the disease, such as the mandatory and correct use of the facemask. Sanitary inspectors and other officials will ensure compliance and those who commit violations will be fined.
Among the new provisions, she mentioned preventive and health promotion actions in work centers to increase the perception of risk, as well as the need to promote teleworking and distance work in accordance with the conditions and type of the activity carried out.
Likewise, she emphasized the protection of the most vulnerable; therefore, the suspension of visits to nursing homes and hospitals was determined; in the latter, only one companion will be kept. For their part, the grandparents' homes continue to provide their services, applying restrictions.
They also reinforce the surveillance of acute respiratory infections (ARI) and inquiries at highway points. Public activities are prohibited, as well as night stays in parks, squares or other public places.
Gutiérrez Rodríguez stressed that the activities of the school year are maintained in strict compliance with the instructions, which include the suspension of morning meetings and the exits from the classroom for snack and lunch in a staggered manner to avoid crowds. Those classrooms attended by students involved in a surveillance focus will be closed.
She added that more capacities are enabled in low-complexity hospitals, while preparing premises for the entry of suspects in Las Delicias, in "Colombia", and in "Jesús Menéndez." The provincial capital, she said, has hospital beds for the care of complex cases, and Los Cocos, the Club Familiar and the Ferroviario Hotel function as isolation centers.
Since the first positive patient for COVID-19 was reported here, Las Tunas has already accumulated more than 220 confirmed. Today, four new cases were reported from the Health areas of the Manuel (Piti) Fajardo and Gustavo Aldereguía Lima polyclinics, in this capital city.
Today, more than 80 people remain in the isolation centers, including 24 asymptomatic positives, who are cared for, specifically, at the José Martí School, where one of these healthcare facilities is located. Another seven patients are receiving treatment in the province of Holguín.
Now the most important thing, insists Dr. Gutiérrez Rodríguez, is to comply with discipline the guidelines of the Temporary Working Group and to take the known sanitary-hygienic measures to avoid going back to other phases of confrontation with the COVID-19.
