Cuba suspends arrival of international flights to curb COVID-19 spread

 HAVANA, April 01-- Cuba on Tuesday announced the decision to suspend the arrival of international passenger flights and withdraw all foreign boats from the Carribean island as part of the measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
   The decision came as the Cuban Ministry of Public Health reported 16 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 earlier in the day, bringing the total in the country to 186.
   Last week, Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel urged state institutions, private sectors and the public to increase control and discipline so as to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.
   Cuban Minister of Public Health Jose Angel Portal said Cuban residents entering the country must be isolated for 14 days at facilities set up by the government, while schools and universities were suspended for four weeks, from March 24 to April 20.
   On March 20, Cuba said it would restrict foreigners from entering for a month. The island nation reported its first COVID-19 cases on March 11. Xinhua