This May 15, when International Day of Families is celebrated, Dr. Grégory Pérez Héctor, deputy director of Health in Las Tunas province, calls for compliance with biosafety measures against the COVID-19, which puts this social institution in danger, especially now with the rebound in positive cases.

Las Tunas. Cuba.- At the end of the week, he said, 79 more patients were reported than in the previous one; and according to the forecasts for the current month, the number of cases will continue increasing. The province is still below the indexes to declare it in the stage of transmission, but the main municipality shows a complex scenario.

With the eight confirmed yesterday, there are 1,147 positives. In the last 15 days, the highest incidence was reported in the health areas of the “Gustavo Aldereguía” and “Aquiles Espinosa” polyclinics; the latter, with several active foci, generating a significant number of positives from the index case.

In pediatric age, there are 108 diagnosed and, although it is one of the lowest figures in the country, there is an increase; and even children under one year of age are reported. In this regard, Pérez Héctor reiterated that babies should only be carried by their parents, to reduce the risk of infection.

The rise in patients has led to an increase in suspects and contacts. So that, he said, new capacities have been arranged in isolation centers. Due to this situation, the aim is to guarantee human resources, supplies, means of protection, and the organization of processes.

“The facilities have worked at 50 or 60 percent of their capacities, and today they can reach 70 or 80. Many organizations, such as Sports and Education have supported with workers and students, who receive training to minimize dissatisfaction within those admitted".

There are high and low complexity hospitals in the territory, he explained. The first definition includes the “Guillermo Domínguez”, which assumes high-risk suspected patients; besides a room with 10 capacities in the Ernesto Guevara Hospital, and also the Pediatric Hospital of Las Tunas. The Lenin campus of the local University, for the care of suspects, and the Medical Sciences University, for asymptomatic positives, are of low complexity.

The doctor warned that more and more are symptomatic patients. “We are talking not only about respiratory symptoms but also about headaches, decay, diarrhea ... Therefore when any manifestation of the disease appears, you have to stop working and go to the doctor.

“The most important thing is to take care of ourselves and the family. We must maintain physical distancing, use the facemask correctly, and systematically wash our hands and clean surfaces. These are provisions that we have to comply with to control the epidemic in the province.”