Last Updated on March 17, 2020, 3:45 AM AST by Anthony Morris
The Cuban health minister has said that thirteen travellers from the United States have been isolated in Cuban hospitals, and they are being kept under observation for the symptoms of COVID-19 coronavirus.
The Health Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda said in a meeting on Friday that 149 people have been isolated in several hospitals. Sixty-five out of these are foreigners, and eighty-four are Cubans.
The official media did not eagerly report the details. Yet, the state television showed a video clip of the meeting.
The Health Minister also said that in addition to the foreigners from the United States, four Spaniards, four Mexicans, twenty Italians and three Canadians were also under observation in hospitals.
The minister did not make it clear whether the said travellers from the United States were Cuban-Americans also, what cities did they depart from.
The total number of people under medical observation rose on Saturday.
The total number of people under observation became 259. Out of these 259, 90 are foreigners, and 169 others are Cubans.
However, the Government has not disclosed the nationalities to which the new foreign patients belong.
A spokesperson from the State Department Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said that the U.S. embassy in Havana is providing emergency services to U.S. citizens in Cuba continuously.
However, he declined to provide any further details owing to the reason of confidentiality.
The Government has not reported any new cases of COVID-19 till Monday.
So far, the Government has only reported four cases, out of which, one is Cuban and three Italian tourists from Lombardy. It has also been reported that one of the Italian patients has been classified as critical but stable and needed a mechanical ventilator.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez had asked the Federal Government of the United States to cancel flights to Cuba and to support his request; he had stated that the Cuban Government is not transparent with the data about the spread of the virus.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
