Better prepared than surprised by the blows of the COVID-19

HAVANA, Cuba, Jan 19 (ACN) Knowing how to prepare for the most adverse scenarios, knowing in detail, from each territory, which material and human resources are available to face COVID-19, was the essential concept that set the tone, this Monday, to the meeting of the Temporary Working Group for the Prevention and Control of the new coronavirus.

The meeting took place at the Palace of the Revolution and was attended by the Commander of the Revolution and Deputy Prime Minister, Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, and the President of the National Assembly of People's Power, Esteban Lazo Hernández, and was led by Deputy Prime Minister, Roberto Morales Ojeda.

The latter insisted on the need to continue to keep the numbers of confirmed cases and suspects accurate, the number of intensive therapies and isolation centers available, as well as the total number of workers from the health spaces taking part in this battle for life.

It is a disease, as Morales Ojeda said, whose transmission speed is very high, so it is necessary to know, from each territory, how many beds are available, or who are, with the greatest precision possible, the members of the chains of contagion.

The immediacy as a premise in the face of the pandemic was also highlighted by the Deputy Prime Minister, who recalled that it has made possible the good results of medical protocols in Cuba.

The battle will be difficult. It is not good news from a world where, as informed in the meeting by the Minister of Public Health, José Angel Portal Miranda, the numbers continue to grow: until January 17, 189 countries have reported cases of COVID-19, confirmed cases amount to more than 95.4 million, active cases to more than 21.8 million, and the dead already exceed two million.

In Cuba, according to the Health Minister, 18,443 confirmed cases have been reported up to 17 January, of which 17,750 are Cuban and 693 are foreign. There are 4,439 active cases, and 173 deaths accumulated for a lethality of 0.94 percent.

He also pointed out that the provinces that present the highest rate of positive cases of the new coronavirus in the last 15 days are Guantanamo, Matanzas, Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Ciego de Avila, Villa Clara and Cienfuegos.
Through videoconference that allowed the exchange with authorities from provinces in which the epidemiological situation is complex, it was known that in Guantánamo, efforts are concentrated in guaranteeing the biggest number of available beds, as well as a bigger agility in obtaining information from PCR samples.

The province of Matanzas has also been expanding its capabilities. In Mayabeque, where the number of confirmed cases has increased, one of the priorities is to determine in detail the sources of infection. And in Holguín, where in the last 15 days there has been a decrease in the number of confirmed cases, containing the spread is seen, if we continue to work rigorously, as a close possibility.