The doctor Francisco Durán, national director of Epidemiology for the Ministry of Public Health, informed in a press conference that by the end of yesterday, March 20th, 796 cases were confirmed as positive to COVID-19, for a total 66 758.

To date, 394 deceased were reported (two within the day), 798 were discharged (also within the day), 3 448 (5.2%) were confirmed, of which 3 380 (98.3%) have a clinically stable course, and we arrive to 62 860 (94.2%) people medically and epidemiologically discharged. There are 29 patients in a critical state and 39 in a serious one.

Of those diagnosed, 464 are residents of the capital, of which 459 are autochthonous and 3 imported. Due to the increase in the case amount, the presence, dispersion, and rising tendency in all municipalities, the province will continue to be in the epidemiological phase know as Limited Local Transmission Stage, also having the highest incidence rate which is 289.1%, being lower than the one of the day before.

The largest amount of PCR tests, which was a total of 8 269, were done in this province which constitutes the 44.2% of the total done in the whole country. The most affected municipalities of the capital were: San Miguel del Padrón (76), Boyeros (45), Arroyo Naranjo (42), La Lisa (37), Habana del Este (32), Centro Habana (31), Cerro (30), Habana Vieja and Diez de Octubre (25 each), Marianao (23), Guanabacoa (21), Playa and Regla (16 each), Plaza de la Revolución (11), and Cotorro (10). 

Ten of these municipalities are among the twelve where the 47% of the COVID-19 incidence has been located in the last 15 days. These territories are: Habana Vieja, Regla, San Miguel del Padrón, Centro Habana, Cotorro, Cerro, Guanabacoa, Habana del Este, Diez de Octubre, and Arroyo Naranjo.

Respecting the short term forecasts given by Francisco Durán about the infection in Havana, there will continue to but a high incidence in the following days. He stated some positive facts that will help in the control of the COVID-19. For example, he mentioned that two of the five Cuban vaccine candidates: Soberana 02 and Abdala are in phase III of clinical testing. However, he expressed that satisfactory results cannot make the population neglect the health measures issued, all of this due to the complex epidemiological context of the country.

The other confirmed cases belong to other provinces like Santiago de Cuba (72), Pinar del Rio (62), Sancti Spíritus (42), Granma (30), Artemisa (27), Camagüey (18), Las Tunas (14), Holguín (12), Mayabeque (11), Ciego de Ávila (10), Matanzas and Guantánamo (9 each), Villa Clara and Cienfuegos (8).

For the COVID-19, 18 690 samples were analyzed, and 796 were positive. The country has had a total of 788 164 samples analyzed, and 66 758 of these were positive (2.39%).

766 (96.2%) out of the total of confirmed cases were contacts of other confirmed ones, for a total of 61 225, which represents a 91.7%; 6 (0.7%) of these were infected abroad for another total of 4 970 (7.4%), and 24 were infected by an undetermined source.

This Satursday’s autochthonous cases were a total 790, and 6 were imported. A total of 381 of these were female and 415 were male.

A total of 21 658 patients are still hospitalized under clinical and epidemiological surveillance, 3 843 are suspected cases, 14 367 are under surveillance, and 3 448 (5.2%) have been confirmed, of which 3 380 (98.03%) have a stable clinical course.

The 51.8% (492) of the 796 positive cases were asymptomatic, for a total of 35 204, which represents the 52.7% of all the confirmed cases to date.

The 796 diagnosed belong to the following age groups: 113 below the age of 20 years old; 276 between 20 and 39 years old; 286 between 40 and 59 years old, and 121 above 60 years old. 

COVID-19 fatality rate in Cuba, until March 20th, is 0.59% per one million inhabitants, lower than that of the whole world (2.20%) and the one of the American continent (2.40%).

Confirmed cases divided according to municipality:

Havana: 462 cases

Diez de Octubre: (46) (45 were contacts of confirmed cases and 1 was imported)

Arroyo Naranjo: (42) (all contacts of confirmed cases)

Boyeros: (45) (all contacts of confirmed cases)

Cerro: (30) (all contacts of confirmed cases)

Guanabacoa: (20) (19 were contacts of confirmed cases and 1 was imported)

Habana del Este: (31) (30 were contacts of confirmed cases and 1 were imported)

Habana Vieja: (25) (all contacts of confirmed cases)

La Lisa: (37) (all contacts of confirmed cases)

Playa: (18) (all contacts of confirmed cases)

Centro Habana: (31) (27 were contacts of confirmed cases and 1 was imported)

Regla: (16) (all contacts of confirmed cases)

San Miguel del Padrón: (76) (all contacts of confirmed cases)

Cotorro: (10) (all contacts of confirmed cases)

Marianao: (23) (all contacts of confirmed cases)

Plaza de la Revolución: (12) (all contacts of confirmed cases)

Until March 20th, it is confirmed that 190 countries and 29 territories present COVID-19 cases. There is a total of 152 152 678 confirmed cases (+ 491 527) with 21 185 225 active cases, and 2 717 003 deceased (+ 9 858) for a fatality rate of 2.20 (=).

In the American continent, 54 799 028 cases were reported (+ 210 138), which is a 44.49% of the total amount of cases confirmed worldwide, with 9 348 502 active and 1 315 222 deceased (+ 5 728) for a fatality rate of 2.40 (+0.01).

The Digital News Portal of the Government of Havana/YG