Cuba sees April as worst month of COVID-19 pandemic

HAVANA, May 01 — Cuba closed April as the worst month of the COVID-19 pandemic on the island, with 1,046 new infections and 12 deaths in the past day, for a total of 106,707 cases and 644 deaths, the Public Health Ministry said Friday.
There were 30,431 confirmed cases registered in April, 4,655 more than March, as well as 219 deaths reported, more than double the 101 from a month earlier, according to ministry statistics.
These results are not what we would have liked, the ministry’s national director of hygiene and epidemiology Francisco Duran said during his daily report.
Havana, the epicenter of the pandemic, reported 675 infections in the last day, with an incidence rate of 440.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest in the country.
Cuba has been facing a new wave of COVID-19 infections since January, as authorities have moved to regulate the closure of many public spaces, restrict mobility, and require testing and quarantining for arriving travelers.
In the capital, the ministry is preparing for a mass vaccination campaign in May with two Cuban vaccine candidates, Soberana-02 and Abdala.
Meanwhile, the third and final phase of clinical trials for Soberana-02 continues in Havana alongside an intervention study among health workers, while Phase II clinical trials for another vaccine candidate Soberana Plus continue in the capital.
In addition, Phase III clinical trials and an intervention trial for Abdala are being carried out in the eastern part of the country, while two other candidates, Soberana-01 and Mambisa, are at different stages of research. (Xinhua)