Havana, October 19 (RHC)-- The Cuban Ministry of Public health announced the diagnoses of 38 new cases of COVID-19 and two fatalities over the last 24 hours, bringing to 6 258 the number of people who have contracted the disease and 127 deaths on the island since the beginning of the pandemic.

The Ministry's daily press release with the official update noted that the provinces of Pinar del Rio and Sancti Spiritus had 10 and 17 cases, respectively. 

All newly diagnosed cases were Cuban, and 32 of them were confirmed-case contacts.

With 17 cases, the province of Sancti Spíritus, currently in the phase of limited native transmission, has the most complex epidemiological situation on he island.

Manuel Rivero, the province's director of health, said over the week end that  the region reports the highest incidence rate of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, with 59.2 per 100 thousand inhabitants.

He explained that the municipality of Sancti Spiritus, with more than 100 thousand inhabitants and the center of the contagions, has a very delicate situation.

Faced with this situation, the Provincial Defense Council ordered strong measures for the province to cut off the transmission and save lives, such as restricting people and vehicles' mobility, prohibiting access to other locations, and applying fines to those who do not comply with current regulations.