Havana, March 6 (RHC)-- President Miguel Diaz Canel-Bermudez led on Friday two territorial meetings to oversee the territorial implementation of the National Plan for the deterrence and control of the Coronavirus epidemic on the Caribbean island.

Along with Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, and Health Minister, Jose Angel Portal Miranda, Diaz Canel was present in the morning in the central province of Villa Clara with representatives of Matanzas, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spiritus and Ciego de Avila provinces.

Local party leaders, governors, mayors, health provincial and municipal executives, among others, participated in the gathering.

Diaz Canel insisted that the actions included on the National Plan updated on Thursday do not seek to create panic or to alarm the population.

Even though no cases have been confirmed in the country as of March 6, the Cuban President reiterated that the current situation requires working with responsibility, seriousness, and permanent vigilance on any event, so that actions meet the need of each scenario.

Likewise, he stressed the need to work with speed and precision to achieve efficiency, which must inevitably be supported by systematic control in all areas.

On Friday afternoon, Diaz-Canel led the regional meeting of the western provinces, which was held in Havana.

He noted that at the current stage it is necessary that the training of all the personnel involved in the prevention and control of the virus has the required quality, and he called for guaranteeing the availability of all the supplies to prevent the disease and to fight it if it appears in the national territory.

The President stressed that the plan is not a straightjacket, and it can be perfected and enriched as the situation evolves.

The Cuban head of state assured that "based on the political will and work of the government and the political and mass organizations, the people can expect an adequate response to this situation because they will also be part of that response."

The coronavirus cases have reached 102 200 cases in 97 countries and territories and have caused some 3, 500 deaths.

Just in the United States, Twenty-one people on board a cruise ship off the coast of California have tested positive for the coronavirus. Authorities across the United States reported 323 cases and 15 deaths as of Friday.