Havana, July 16 (RHC)-- With the good news that at the close of the day on Wednesday, Cuba did not report any patients in a serious or critical condition, the Minister of Public Health, José Angel Portal Miranda, updated the current situation of the country during the meeting of the temporary working group for the prevention and control of COVID-19, headed by President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz.

In the last few hours, he said, a 57-year-old Cuban patient, resident in the capital city of Centro Habana, who had been in a serious condition for several days, was transferred to the care of the group.

The head of Public Health explained that when the diagnosis of six new patients positive for the new coronavirus was announced this Wednesday, the number of people confirmed with the disease who are currently in hospital rose to 72, which means only 2.9 percent of the total number of cases, according to the daily Granma newspaper.

Although Havana continues to be the area where the epidemic is concentrated in the country and where the greatest number of PCR samples are currently being taken, these studies are being carried out throughout the country after searching for possible cases.  "By the end of Tuesday," said Portal Miranda, "with the processing of 3,372 samples, one of the largest numbers carried out in the Greater Antilles since March was reached.

A new local transmission event was opened on Wednesday in the capital, where reinforcement measures have been applied, keeping three of the 47 active cases in the country since the beginning of the epidemic.

He said that the new event is also located in the municipality of Centro Habana, in the popular council of Colón, in the Luis Galván health area, where there are already ten confirmed patients. He also said that with a population of 22,593, the town covers four blocks.