Havana, February 26 (RHC)--Deputy Prime Minister Roberto Morales Ojeda affirmed on Thursday that in the days that have elapsed since the provinces' governmental tour, the number of positive cases increased in the country.

However, he said,  some provinces have made progress in controlling the disease, as Matanzas, Villa Clara, and Guantanamo. They report a tendency to decrease the incidence rate by 100,000 inhabitants in the last 15 days.

The Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, reflected that, despite unquestionable progress, several provinces have regressed in the control of the disease, which has had as a fundamental cause the non-compliance with established protocols.

The slight decrease in the number of confirmed cases, he reiterated, is not a reason to be confident; on the contrary, it should lead to advance, sustainably, in obtaining increasingly favorable indicators.

Summarizing the country's epidemiological situation, the Minister of Public Health, José Angel Portal Miranda, said that in the last 15 days, the number of people confirmed with COVID-19 continues to be high.

The highest transmission levels are still present in Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantanamo, where more than 73% of those diagnosed in the past two weeks are concentrated. Also, these provinces concentrate 16 of the 22 active transmission events.

Portal Miranda emphasized that, as a significant element, of the total number of open transmission events at present, 14 are reported in institutions, where 1,629 positive cases have accumulated.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel insisted on the priority to avoid these events because when they happen, they generally trigger a high number of cases.

Isolation within the workplaces that are producing, and within the institutions that have to provide some service is very important to prevent transmission, he emphasized.