In a report published on the site Scidev.net, a city-based specialized in bringing science to development through news and analysis, the authors highlight how this strategy of vaccination with safe and effective immunogens could face situations of this type in environments with resource-poor, low-income countries, and in the developing world.

At the same time, they demand the reduction of the barriers that block global access to biotechnological innovations from that country.

Last June, the team of US researchers, together with colleagues from Africa and the Caribbean, made an official visit to Cuba, the first high-level visit in five years, to exchange with colleagues from the island on the production of vaccines against covid-19 from the country.

The delegation was led by co-chair Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

Along with the scientist came Cristina Rabadán-Diehl, PharmD, PhD, MPH, who for 25 years led international work at the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Health and Human Services, before becoming Director Westat Clinical Trials Associate.

For Osterholm, what he learned about Cuba’s extraordinary work with the covid-19 vaccine made it clear that it can be an important actor in increasing global access to life-saving advances.

He considered that although the policies are complex, “they must face the barriers that prevent their impressive group of scientists and public health experts from doing it.”

The report further explains that the purpose of the fact-finding mission was threefold: first, to learn how and why a small country of some 11 million people, and facing considerable economic hardship, had developed, manufactured, and deployed its own vaccines, It was shown to be more than 95% effective in preventing disease, severity, and death.

Second, understand the launch of the vaccine in Cuba, strategy and preliminary results and third, explore Cuba’s approach to science in the context of public health.

The vaccine development effort and the immunization model could reveal opportunities to reduce global inequalities in access to vaccines and other health innovations, the scientists insist in their study.

They also highlight that the delegation was aware of predictions that the world is dangerously close to the next pandemic, with cross-zoonotic infections, which already account for 75% of emerging infectious diseases, on the rise amid climate change.

They were also alarmed by the unequal access to vaccines that has prolonged the pandemic so far, and how it highlights a broader failure in the current surge in biomedical innovation to reach billions of people in low- and low-middle-income countries.

The visit to Havana was organized by Medicc (Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba), a US-based non-profit organization that promotes health-related dialogue and collaboration.

Since 1997, Medicc has facilitated exchanges between Cuban and US health professionals, academics, policymakers, foundations, students, and leaders of medically underserved communities.

(With information from PL)

Consumer price growth in the 19 countries that share the European currency accelerated to 10.7% in October from 9.9% the previous month, Eurostat data showed on Monday.

This increase would be driven by an astronomical 41.9% growth in energy costs, compared to last year, according to the EU statistical office.

Likewise, the value of food, which increased by 13.1%, and that of imported industrial goods pushed prices up.

The European Central Bank has raised interest rates a total of 200 basis points (2%) in the last 3 months and has already promised a further tightening for December.

The ECB deposit rate, now at 1.5%, is seen to peak at just under 2.9% in 2023, a big jump from expectations around 2.6%. after the body’s meeting last Thursday.
(Taken from RT in Spanish)

When the first cases of covid-19 were detected in Cuba in March 2020 and the pandemic began to spread throughout the national territory, 243 measures were already weighing on the Cuban economy and people, which to date hit sources of income, operations as well as exports and tourism.

At the same time, unilateral decisions by Washington fractured relations between families in Cuba and abroad.

Although they were activated during the Trump administration, Biden has kept them unchanged. A demonstration that, in the United States, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party embody the same hegemonic strategy of imperial domination.

In the case of Cuba, in line with the speech enunciated from the White House, which sought to present the country as a failed state, on digital networks the media financed by the United States government tried to conceal the criminal nature of the system of coercive measures against the island.
Through the analysis of experts, testimonies and documents, this chapter of the audiovisual series Archivo.cu reveals why this unilateral policy denies rights to Cubans.

(By: Daily Perez Guillen)

Along this path, this Tuesday afternoon two exchanges were held between the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, with experts and scientists for health issues, and the members of the Temporary Group of I work for the prevention and control of COVID-19 and dengue.

At the center of the analyzes of both meetings was the evaluation of the behavior of the dengue and COVID-19 epidemics in the country, two aspects that do not allow carelessness in their confrontation.

Dengue in October: Maintain surveillance and vector control
October —assert the specialists— is confirmed in Cuba as a month in which the infestation rates of the Aedes aegypti mosquito tend to increase and, therefore, also the incidence of dengue among the Cuban population.

Such reflections were shared this Tuesday during President Díaz-Canel’s meeting with experts and scientists for health issues, in which Dr. Francisco Durán García, director of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health, drew attention to the effects of Hurricane Ian in the epidemiological situation of the country and the importance of maintaining and intensifying vector control actions.

To the extent that the sanitation work progresses —he reflected— we will be in better conditions to contain the increase in the infestation, which is ultimately what is leading us to still have somewhat high incidence rates of suspected cases.

In support of his assessments, he commented on the experience of health intervention that is currently being carried out in the province of Mayabeque, specifically in the municipality of Batabanó, in the community of Surgidero, where the effects associated with Hurricane Ian made the epidemiological situation.

Even though there the cases with febrile syndrome that are being seen in the demand for care have not decreased, it is indisputable that the rates of infestation are improving discreetly, he considered.

Precisely in the municipality of Batabanó, dengue transmission was opened during the last week, the first deputy minister of the Ministry of Public Health, Tania Margarita Cruz Hernández, would explain shortly after, at the Temporary Working Group meeting for the prevention and control of COVID-19. 19 and dengue. The epidemiological control and surveillance actions implemented there have been essential to avoid a much more complex scenario.

Reporting on the behavior of the disease in the country over the course of the last week, Cruz Hernández specified that dengue transmission is maintained in the 15 provinces, as well as in 44 municipalities and 62 health areas. As a favorable element, she highlighted that the incidence rate of suspected cases decreased by 32.7% compared to the same preceding period.

The provinces with rates of suspected cases above the national average are Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Camagüey, Matanzas, Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara and Mayabeque.

In this sense, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party insisted on the priority with which work must be done throughout the country in the identification of foci in order to act against the proliferation of the mosquito.

Without trusting ourselves before covid-19
September has been the best month of this year in terms of the incidence of COVID-19 in Cuba, assured Dr. Raúl Guinovart Díaz, dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computing of the University of Havana, when sharing together to experts and scientists for health issues, the usual forecasts on the behavior of the epidemic.

The forecasts, he assessed, are quite favorable for all the provinces, and it is expected that the trend towards control will continue throughout the national territory.

The figures shared shortly after, at the meeting of the Temporary Working Group for the prevention and control of COVID-19 and dengue, by the First Vice Minister of Public Health, although they do not constitute any reason to neglect the epidemiological surveillance actions associated with the disease, show the favorable situation that is manifested throughout the country.

Let us take some examples as a basis for this certainty: at the end of the last week, ending on October 1, the diagnosis of positive cases decreased by 53.1% compared to the same previous period; there were eight weeks in which a decrease in infections was confirmed; Meanwhile, for six consecutive weeks, the death of no Cuban as a result of COVID-19 has been regretted.

Given this favorable scenario, an evident example of how much work has been done in Cuba to contain the epidemic and minimize its damage to the population, the President of the Republic insisted that we cannot trust each other, and we must continue to monitor and observe the behavior of the disease. in order to maintain the control that has been achieved over it.

Intertwine strategies to advance health goals
Precisely about the many and diverse actions that are promoted and implemented by the Ministry of Public Health to comply with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and their articulation with the 2030 National Economic and Social Development Plan in the post-COVID-19 context, he detailed also during the working day Ileana Morales Suárez, director of Science and Technological Innovation of the Ministry of Public Health.

The COVID-19 epidemic, she assured, has not been a reason to neglect these lines of work, which are of vital importance to guarantee a better quality of life for our population. When the world set goal 3, which is to “guarantee a healthy life and promote the well-being of all”, multiple strategies had already been outlined in our country to achieve it, recalled Morales Suárez.

In an inclusive manner, she detailed, we have managed to align the Sustainable Development Goals with the National Plan for Economic and Social Development and that has led us to a more comprehensive strategy for compliance.

As an unquestionable strength to advance in these purposes, he highlighted, among others, all the Health structures that exist throughout the country, such as the clinics; the Family Physician Program; the universities of Medical Sciences; almost half a million health workers; cooperation links with other organizations, and a healthcare and scientific network.

Cuba, like the rest of the countries in the world, faces great health challenges. More than six decades of Revolution have paved the way so that facing them is not a matter of one day or carrying out campaigns, but rather a supreme purpose on the road to protecting the health of its people.

(By: Yaima Puig Meneses)

The idea -which arose in the midst of covid-19- was promoted by the Union of Informatics of Cuba and developed by the Eureka Scientific Group of the “José Antonio Echeverría” Technological University of Havana (Cujae), led by Professor Joaquín Pina Amargos.

The pilot test began in Playa and Marianao, and based on the positive results, it was generalized to the rest of the municipalities of the capital.

In what context does Cola.CU arise?

Due to the shortage of essential products in Cuban chain stores, caused by the global crisis due to the pandemic and the tightening of the United States blockade, hoarders, coleros and resellers increased in the country; figures whom the government set out to eliminate.

“Foreign and Cuban software that allows queue management does not have the ability to specify the products offered and to alert the organizer if a customer has recently registered in any other queue according to the number of days declared by the local government. ”, Joaquín Pina Amargós, also president of the Union of Computer Scientists of Cuba in Havana, explains to Cubadebate.

Precisely, these two functionalities are the main advantages of Cola.CU, software that consists of two versions, mobile and desktop, to achieve integrated queue management in a given region.

According to data offered by the development team, Cola.CU has worked daily without interruption since September 1, 2020, with more than 1.25 million different people registered and more than 250,000 beneficiaries who have been able to buy thanks to the detection of recent buyers.

How does Cola.CU work?

In this software system you can specify the products that are offered and alert the organizer of the queue if a customer has recently registered in any other queue. It consists of two computer applications that work offline (in this first version) but are synchronized daily by exchanging files.

For its part, the version for Android mobiles, Cola.CU Apk, allows the daily management of the queue for a given store. On the other hand, the desktop version Cola.CU App, allows unifying all the information of the stores where it is established that the same person buys only once during a certain period.

Thanks to its flexibility, it is possible to establish specific work rules that are dynamically approved by the Defense Councils of each municipality, for example, the frequency of the purchase of a certain electronic product or those with a high consumption cycle such as chicken or detergent.

The parameters are configured from the desktop version so that all mobile applications synchronized with the first one have the same information.

In a second version that is developed from a Computer Engineering diploma thesis, the possibility of connecting to the cloud is incorporated to achieve the exchange of information without the need for physical files.

A hundred students, professors and volunteers from the Joven Club of all the municipalities of Havana and other entities of the Fight Against Coleros (LCC) operation groups have joined this task.

This application can be applied in the future in any region where several establishments are concentrated and people are free to buy from them.

Economic, social and environmental benefits

“The main novelty of Cola.CU is that it preventatively limits, in situ and without the need for a connection to the mobile data network, coleros, hoarders, resellers and illicit commercialization that may be carried out”, explains Professor Pina Amargós.

Based on the products that a person has bought, based on his purchase history, the queue organizer can reject this customer, informing him of his situation. In this way, it allows access to other people who until now had not been able to acquire them.

Likewise, Cola.CU allows realistic queue management as the organizer can mark those who buy, abandon, rejoin, go through a certain priority, or are rejected for having registered or bought in other recent queues. “This enables real-time operational work,” I added.

Also, the software guarantees the registration of all people because the primary key is the number of any of the existing identity documents: Identity card, military card or passport. “The identity is verified by means of the date of birth and the control digit, providing greater reliability of the identities.”

Optionally, the municipality of residence of each client can be added to be able to carry out a demographic analysis of mobility, says the professor.

Among the main functionalities is that of exporting, importing and adding data from other queues, including the possibility of integrating data from nearby queues to achieve better control on the same day.

In addition, taking into account the rules established by the Municipal Defense Council, the apk allows the entry of the same person to be limited to a set of stores during the time that is set. Control of the movement of people and the demand for products is also achieved, allowing CDMs to make decisions about distribution adjustments.

In Cola.CU there is a scanner system created, but it is not yet deployed in all stores (only half are reported).

According to Fermín Rivas Sotomayor, one of the developers, there are interesting data but they are not yet used by the authorities to direct the distribution, take measures with the hoarders that are detected and unite with the data of the oficodas.

Among the plans of the application development group is the deployment of a dashboard on the web that includes the main reports and helps managers in decision making. Also, develop a version of the application for iOS devices.

Main figures of Cola.CU

More than 2 years of exploitation in all the municipalities of Havana,

+540 thousand people benefited from the detection of others who have made recent purchases,
700 stores,
+130 thousand queues,
+20 million records,
+1.5 million different people

(By: Thalia Fuentes Puebla/ cU)

At the end of Saturday, 405 patients were admitted: 160 suspects and 245 confirmed (active cases), of which 244 maintain a stable clinical evolution

2,309 samples were processed, of which 70 were positive. The country accumulates 14,092,790 samples analyzed, with 1,110,407 positive.

Of the total cases (70):

–52 were contacts of confirmed cases

–Nine have a source of infection abroad

-In nine the source of infection has not been specified.

–29 correspond to the female sex, and 41 to the male.

–11 were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis. 147,429 are accumulated, 13.3% of those confirmed to date.

–By age groups: under 20 years old (47), from 20 to 39 years old (9), from 40 to 59 years old (13) and 60 years old and over (1).

Cuba accumulates 8,530 deaths (none this Saturday), for a lethality of 0.77% (1.07% in the world and 1.6% in the Americas); two evacuated and 57 returned to their countries.

This Saturday 58 discharges were registered. To date, 1,101,573 patients (99.2%) have recovered from the disease.

Residence of those confirmed by provinces and municipalities
Artemis: 1 case

• San Antonio de Los Baños: 1 (confirmed case contact).

Havana: 4 cases

• October 10: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Marianao: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Beach: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases).

Massacres: 5 cases

• Cárdenas: 1 (imported).
• Colon: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Jovellanos: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Matanzas: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Perico: 1 (confirmed case contact).

Villa Clara: 1 case

• Santa Clara: 1 (confirmed case contact).

Sancti Spiritus: 6 cases

• Cabaiguán: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Jatibonico: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Sancti Spíritus: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases).
• Yaguajay: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases).

Ciego de Avila: 6 cases

• Majagua: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Ciego de Ávila: 4 (2 contacts of a confirmed case and 2 without a specified source of infection).
• Baraguá: 1 (no specified source of infection).

Camaguey: 10 cases

• Camagüey: 5 (4 confirmed case contact and 1 imported).
• Florida: 3 (contacts of confirmed cases).
• Najasa: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Sierra de Cubitas: 1 (confirmed case contact).

Las Tunas: 3 cases

• Las Tunas: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Puerto Padre: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases).

Granma: 8 cases

• Bartolomé Masó: 4 (contacts of confirmed cases).
• Bayamo: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Manzanillo: 3 (contacts of confirmed cases).

Holguin: 25 cases

• Antilles: 1 (imported).
• Báguanos: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Banes: 1 (imported).
• Cacocum: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases).
• Calixto García: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases).
• Cueto: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Gibara: 1 (imported).
• Holguín: 6 (no specified source of infection).
• Mayarí: 2 (1 confirmed case contact and 1 imported).
• Moa: 1 (confirmed case contact).
• Rafael Freyre: 4 (2 contacts of confirmed cases and 2 imported).
• Sagua de Tánamo: 1 (imported).
• Urbano Noris: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases).

Guantanamo: 1 case

From August 14 to 20, week 33 of the year, transmission was opened in the provinces of Mayabeque (in the municipality of Güines), Cienfuegos (in Rodas) and Guantánamo (in Caimanera), it was reported at the meeting this Tuesday of the Group temporary work of the Government for the prevention and control of Covid-19.

In videoconference format with the political and government authorities of the 15 provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, the exchange was led, from the Palace of the Revolution, by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic , Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and the member of the Political Bureau and Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz.

An analysis of the epidemiological situation of dengue and Aedes Aegypti at the end of week 33 was presented by Dr. Carilda Peña García, Deputy Minister of Public Health, who reported that 22,509 SUMA IgM samples were processed for dengue diagnosis, 933 more than in the previous week.

The studies showed 11,634 reactive cases, 251 more than week 32, but a positivity of 51.7 percent, somewhat lower than the previous period.

The highest positivity corresponded to the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, as well as to the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Havana, Las Tunas, Holguín, Camagüey and Guantánamo.

Regarding the levels of infestation of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, Peña García explained that in week 33, compared to the same week of the previous year, the focus of the vector is higher by 49.5 percent, with 1,683 more foci. Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Camagüey, Villa Clara, Matanzas and Las Tunas contribute 74.1 percent of the country’s focus.

Regarding the confrontation and control of COVID-19, it was learned that at the end of last week (August 20), transmission increased by 28.9 percent compared to July.

The highest levels of transmission in the current month occur in Holguín, Santiago de Cuba, Sancti Spíritus, Camagüey, Las Tunas, Havana and Guantánamo, where 71.9 percent of the cases diagnosed in the country during August are concentrated.

In week 33, one death from COVID-19 was reported, after 13 weeks without deaths in Cuba from this cause. The cumulative lethality from the start of the pandemic to August 20 was 0.77 percent (1,109,992 cases with 8,530 deaths).

The meeting of the Temporary Working Group of the Government for the prevention and control of the pandemic, also followed up on the first reported case of monkeypox in the country —which led to the death of the patient, an Italian tourist— and surveillance that is followed with those who had contact with him.

The meeting also paid attention to the strengthening of the distribution system of oxygen and other gases in the territories; and to the continuity of actions to support Cupet by other organizations in the distribution of fuels, as well as the implementation and control of compliance with the organizational measures for its commercialization.

The measures aimed at facing the current energy situation and reducing the effects on the water supply by different methods were addressed; as well as the control of compliance with the plan for programmed effects on the electrical service and the permanent updating of information for the population.

(By: Rene Tamayo)

At the close of yesterday, August 20, a total of 554 patients have been admitted, 204 suspected and 350 confirmed active.

For COVID-19, a total of 2,375 samples were taken for surveillance, with 81 being positive. The country has accumulated 14,079,511 samples taken and 1,109,992 positives.

Of the total number of cases (81): 55 were contacts of confirmed cases, 6 with a source of infection abroad and 20 without a specified source of infection. Of the 81 diagnosed cases, 44 were female and 37 male.

Six asymptomatic cases are reported, accumulating a total of
147,398, which represents (13.3%) of those confirmed to date.

The 81 diagnosed cases belong to the age groups: under 20 years old (61), 20 to 39 years old (5), 40 to 59 years old (8) and 60 years old and over (7).

Residence by province and municipality of confirmed cases:

Pinar del Rio: 1 case

Pinar del Río: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Artemis: 2 cases

Bahía Honda: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Havana: 2 cases

Eastern Havana: 2 (1 contact of confirmed cases and 1 imported)
Mayabeque: 2 cases

Santa Cruz del Norte: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
San José de las Lajas: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Matanzas: 3 cases

Colón: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Cardenas: 1 (imported)
Matanzas: 1 (imported)
Cienfuegos: 7 cases

Cienfuegos: 4 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Lajas: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Passenger Aguada: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Villa Clara: 1 case

Santa Clara: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Sancti Spiritus: 6 cases

Promotion: 3 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Cabaiguán: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Trinidad: 1 (imported)
Ciego de Avila: 5 cases

Ciego de Ávila: 1 (no specified source of infection)
Baraguá: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Venezuela: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Morón: 2 (1 contact of confirmed cases and 1 imported)
Camaguey: 6 cases

Camagüey: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Florida: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Sierra de Cubitas: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Céspedes: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Las Tunas: 3 cases

Jobabo: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Las Tunas: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Majibacoa: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Holguin: 25 cases

Holguín: 11 (1 contact of confirmed cases, 1 imported and 9 without a specified source of infection)
Gibara: 3 (1 contact of confirmed cases and 2 without a specified source of infection)
Mayarí: 3 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Cacocum: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Rafael Freyre: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Moa: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Cueto: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Sagua de Tánamo: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Granma: 7 cases

Bayamo: 3 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Campechuela: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Bartolomé Maso: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Guise: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Yara: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Santiago de Cuba: 8 cases

Santiago de Cuba: 3 (no specified source of infection)
Dent: 1 (no specified source of infection)
Baraguá: 1 (no specified source of infection)
Second Front: 1 (no specified source of infection)
Guamá: 1 (no specified source of infection)
Palma Soriano: 1 (no specified source of infection)
Guantanamo: 3 cases

Guantánamo: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Imías: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Of the 109,992 million patients diagnosed with the disease, 350 remain hospitalized, 348 of them with stable clinical evolution. There are 8,530 deaths (1 on the day), a lethality of 0.77% vs 1.08% in the world and 1.61% in the Americas; two evacuated and 57 returned to their countries. On the day there were 61 discharges, accumulated 1 million 101 thousand 053 (99.0%). Two confirmed serious patients are treated in Intensive Care.

One deceased patient was reported on the day. We deeply regret what happened and convey our condolences to his family and friends.

Residence by province of the deceased patient

• Guantanamo

Deceased by age group

• Between 30 and 39 years old

Distribution by sex

• Feminine

(Taken from MINSAP)

At the close of this Saturday, August 13, Cuba reported 73 new cases of COVID-19, no deaths and 82 medical discharges, the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported in its daily report this Saturday.

At the close of yesterday, a total of 634 patients are admitted, 248 suspects and 386 confirmed active.

For COVID-19, a total of 2,316 samples were taken for surveillance, of which 73 were positive. The country has accumulated 14,064,773 samples taken and 1,109,433 positive.50 were contacts of confirmed cases;

Three with source of infection abroad;
20 with no specified source of infection.
Of the 73 diagnosed cases, 34 were female and 39 male.
Four asymptomatic cases (5.5%) are reported, accumulating a total of 147,370, which represents (13.3%) of those confirmed to date.
The 73 diagnosed cases belong to the age groups: under 20 years old (46), 20 to 39 years old (14), 40 to 59 years old (4) and 60 years old and over (9).
Of 1,109,433 patients diagnosed with the disease, 386 remain hospitalized, 382 of them with stable clinical evolution. There are 8,529 deaths (no deaths are reported on the day), lethality of 0.77% vs 1.09% in the world and 1.62% in the Americas; two evacuated, 57 returned to their countries, on the day there were 82 discharges, they accumulate 1,100,459 (99.2%). Four confirmed patients are treated in Intensive Care, including two critical and two serious patients.

Residence by province and municipality of confirmed cases:

Pinar del Rio: 2 cases

Pinar del Río: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
San Juan and Martínez: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Artemis: 3 cases

Mariel: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Bauta: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
San Antonio de los Baños: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)

Havana: 4 cases

Marianao: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases)
San Miguel del Padrón: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
La Lisa: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)

Mayabeque: 4 cases

Santa Cruz del Norte: 4 (contacts of confirmed cases)

Matanzas: 4 cases

Matanzas: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Cárdenas: 2 (1 contact of confirmed cases and 1 imported)
Martí: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)

Cienfuegos: 3 cases

Cienfuegos: 2 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Palmira: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)

Villa Clara: 1 case

Remedies: 1 (confirmed cases contact)

Sancti Spiritus: 4 cases

Taguasco: 2 (no specified source of infection)
Sancti Spíritus: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Jatibonico: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)

Ciego de Avila: 4 cases

Morón: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Ciro Redondo: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Ciego de Ávila: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Majagua: 1 (no specified source of infection)

Camaguey: 9 cases

Camagüey: 5 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Nuevitas: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Santa Cruz del Sur: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Sierra de Cubitas: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Guaimaro: 1 (imported)

Las Tunas: 5 cases

Las Tunas: 3 (2 contacts of confirmed cases and 1 imported)
Colombia: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Jobabo: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)

Holguin: 22 cases

Holguín: 10 (1 contact of confirmed cases and 9 without a specified source of infection)
Gibara: 4 (no specified source of infection)
Rafael Freyre: 3 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Báguanos: 3 (contacts of confirmed cases)
Mayarí: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)
Urbano Noris: 1 (contact of confirmed cases)

Santiago de Cuba: 6 cases

Santiago de Cuba: 4 (1 contact of confirmed cases and 3 without a specified source of infection)
Palma Soriano: 2 (1 contact of confirmed cases and 1 without a specified source of infection)

Guantanamo: 2 cases

Guantánamo: 2 (contact of confirmed cases)

(With information from the MINSAP)

I could also call this short chronicle “mid-week news,” and that is why I will begin by highlighting some headlines in the Cuban press, those which go unnoticed by many agencies and media, including some that have accredited correspondents on the island.

“From the world to Matanzas: Doctors of the Henry Reeve Brigade”. The informative content of the article refers to the solidarity of our doctors, who, just as they are capable of providing help in the most remote locations of more than 100 countries, do the same in the province of Matanzas, where a peak in the pandemic has strained public health services, and strict protocols have been established to control and defeat the virus.

Let us remind those who want to exploit the presence of a new strain in the province, to advance an unethical political maneuver, that Matanzas was where the 1961 U.S. invasion at Playa Giron was defeated; boasts the country’s most important tourist resort; and has accomplished more than enough to certify the merits of its great people. In addition to the efforts of its own health workers, the expression “We are Cuba” is now becoming a concrete reality, have no doubt.

Another headline from Matanzas itself reads: “Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Plant synchronized to National Electric System.”

Regarding the country’s challenges in this arena, much has been fabricated on social networks and corporate media about “blackouts” in Cuba. Unfortunately, I have yet to read any real news, in these outlets, about the reasons for the difficulties at this and other power plants.

There is not a single paragraph that at least explains how difficult or impossible it is to acquire the necessary components to perform necessary and duly planned maintenance, or that reminds the world that Cuban electrical plants function with oil and derivatives which U.S. persecution denies Cuba, threatening and pressuring shippers to prevent the arrival of tankers to the island.

Another headline from the Cuban press states: “Clinical trial of Mambisa and Abdala with convalescent patients approved.”

For those in the neighboring empire that wants to destroy us, who do not know the meaning of these names, I limit myself to reminding them that they are two of Cuba’s five anti-Covid candidate vaccines, one of which, Abdala, has already been recognized as a vaccine.

This is only a part of what the country, its scientists, its health workers and government are doing, in daily efforts to guarantee the health of an entire people – including so-called opponents.

This, whether the neighbors to the North like it or not, is the life that continues in our country, life which they have attempted to deny is, delivering death with barbaric acts perpetrated over these 60 years, among them a genocidal blockade, military threats and invasions and attacks of all kinds, and sanctions that in the midst of a pandemic become the most criminal of actions taken by United States governments.

Within their territory, with millions of tax dollars, they insist on fabricating so-called “opponents” in most cases enlisting common criminals, repeat offenders of the law, unscrupulous individuals who attack authorities and the people with knives, stones, sticks and whatever they find in their path.

They call “opponents” those who break windows and doors at shopping centers, steal merchandise and destroy cars belonging to state institutions, as well as privately owned vehicles; insult and assault police officers, assault and attempt to damage institutional buildings and streets, among many other violent acts, violating the law and order, and challenging the stability and security of their fellow citizens.

It is curious, as well as repulsive, to see the festive use they make of their cell phones to record their acts of “opposition.”

And then, they are apparently so ignorant they do not realize that the same images they desperately upload to the internet provide the evidence to identify violators of the law and allow Cuba’s courts of justice to call them to responsible for their actions.
It is also repugnant that those who “hire” them for these “opposition” maneuvers offer them a few dollars for their contribution to overthrowing the “Cuban regime.” They become cheap mercenaries, and many of them, real terrorists.

I am sure that our people know how to identify them and have full confidence that our justice system will hold them accountable for these criminal acts, with the aggravating factors of their contribution to disseminating media slanders n the midst of a pandemic and promoting its proliferation.

I doubt they will continue to be called only “opponents” in court.

(Taken from Granma)