Cuban Health and Transport authorities reported on Monday a set of measures that Cuba will implement from the 1st. January, in order to contain the increase in the incidence of COVID-19 in the country, associated with international travellers.
Dr Francisco Durán García, National Director of Epidemiology at the Ministry of Public Health, announced to the press that visitors from the United States, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Bahamas and the Dominican Republic will be reduced.
Mercedes Vázquez González, Director of Air Transport and International Relations at the Institute of Civil Aeronautics of Cuba (IACC), explained that airlines have been notified, both of the entry into force, as of January 10, of the obligation to carry the negative result of the PCR test, and of the adjustment of flights from the aforementioned origins; a rearcoupling that is temporary, and will consist of regulating the frequency of travel in days, hours and airports, and thus reducing operations.
To serve travelers who, in the face of adjustment, are stranded in Cuba or those countries, airlines will request permission to make humanitarian flights.
Durán García added that, in updating the protocols, it is maintained, for the international traveler who does not have the status of tourist, the completion of the PCR test at the airport, and the fifth day at the place of stay; where it will remain, as long as the result is, under epidemiological surveillance and subject to movement restriction, the compliance of which will be rigorously observed by health authorities and mass organizations.
Dr. Durán García indicated that accommodation capacities for Cuban travelers residing in the country who do not have conditions in their homes or family members to comply with home isolation are assured. Likewise, the operation of isolation centers with hotel conditions is guaranteed for those who decide to assume payment of the lodging service.
NOTE FROM THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC HEALTH OF CUBA
The arrival of international travellers has led to an increase in imported cases of COVID-19 and their contacts with others, representing 71.5% of the total cases detected in recent weeks; largely associated with Cuban citizens from the United States, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas, among others.
Taking into account these elements, the current national, regional and international epidemiological situation and the need to take a group of measures to enable the reduction of COVID-19 cases in the country, it has been decided to reduce the entry of travellers from the United States, Mexico, Panama, Bahamas, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, from January 1, 2021, for which the authorities of the Civil Aeronautics of Cuba readjust with the airlines the necessary details. As soon as the epidemiological situation permits, the frequency of flights will be gradually restored.
In turn, and as has already been reported, it has been decided to establish as a mandatory requirement for the entry into our country of all international travelers, performing a PCR test with negative result to COVID-19, 72 hours in advance of starting the trip. This measure will enter into force from 10 January 2021.
Upon arrival in Cuba, the health protocols currently in place will continue to be implemented; which include conducting a new PCR test at the border and, in the case of international travelers who do not arrive as tourists, another PCR test after five days of arrival.
Accommodation capacities will be ensured for Cuban travelers residing in the country, who do not have conditions in their home or that of their relatives to comply with home isolation.
Likewise, the capacities for insulation in hotels intended for this purpose will be guaranteed, for Cuban travelers residing abroad or others, who decide to perform their isolation in these facilities, assuming payment for this service.
As part of the confrontation with this Pandemic, and having as its fundamental premise the duty to guarantee the health of our population and the international travelers who visit us, the Cuban health authorities will continue to rigorously implement the established health protocols, while maintaining systematic and detailed monitoring of the incidence of imported cases in the transmission of the disease. (http://www.granma.cu/cuba-covid-19/2020-12-28/cuba-suma-nuevas-medidas-para-la-llegada-de-viajeros-del-exterior)
