Another rebound of COVID-19 in Ciego de Ávila

Next Monday, when Dr. Francisco Durán, National Director of Epidemiology, will analyze at the end of week 13 of the year, he will say that Ciego de Ávila is the province with the highest incidence of COVID-19 in the country. He will mention it and all the numbers will confirm the rebound that is already being, also, national.

The recent intervention of the dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computing of the University of Havana, Raúl Guinovart Pérez, before the Temporary Group of the Government warned that the country's curve would rise again, although not to the maximum of the month of January. Here, in praise of those in advance! We have been at that moment for more than 15 days.

Since March 22, the province has registered a figure of more than 100 daily cases, although averages give a little more, 142 until Wednesday 30. They are barely 30 cases per day less than the average of the end of January and the beginning of February. In other words, for Ciego de Ávila the rebound could match the health situation at the beginning of the year.

This appreciation coincides with the forecast of Dr. José Ramón Artigas who, at the end of the previous week, estimated a plateau behavior, with about 140 infections diagnosed every 24 hours. The calculation is based on the "contributions" of two open transmission events in the town of Ceballos and more than 300 active outbreaks.

The transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is maintained in the 10 municipalities of Ciego de Ávila, with the highest incidence in the capital, Morón, Ciro Redondo, Florencia and Majagua. These territories also accumulate the largest number of active foci, in other words, the incidence is not residual.

The only incentive we could cling to is the notable decrease in lethality. In March, the province only reported one death from COVID-19, which speaks in favor of the efficacy of Cuban vaccines. However, as the ministerial team warned a week ago, we must speed up the pace with the application of booster doses.

In addition, we must be very attentive to another rebound of COVID-19. The omicron sub-variant (known as BA.2) has shown greater transmissibility in the world and is the cause of the new waves in several countries. In this regard, we reiterate the call for attention from Dr. Vicente Vérez Bencomo, general director of the Finlay Institute, who told the Temporary Government Group that it is a threat and could cause another wave, with a high pandemic peak.