Cuba reports 344 new cases and an increase of asymptomatic patients

HAVANA, Cuba, Jan 8 (ACN) Cuba studied 12,092 samples, resulting in 344 new positive ones to SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, accumulating already 1,565,666 of tests carried out and 13,823 confirmed cases since March.

During the last 24 hours, 141 discharges were granted, resulting in 11,531 recovered patients and no deaths were registered.

Of the 344 new cases, 232 (67.4 %), were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis, and Dr. Francisco Duran, national director of Epidemiology at the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), said the figure represents an increase in asymptomatic cases in the country, behavior of the disease that makes it extremely risky.

Regarding the number of SARS-CoV-2 positive children under 20, the expert noted that at the close of January 7, 46 of the 344 confirmed cases were diagnosed, for a total of 1,438 children and young people of pediatric age, which shows how little protection parents and caretakers have.
Among the confirmed cases, 238 were contacts of confirmed cases, 69 with a source of infection abroad and 37 without a definite source of infection; from the 275 local cases, 168 are related to international travelers.