The Temporary Group for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in Las Tunas specifies the provincial strategy against the new coronavirus pandemic, in line with the fall of the entire country in the phase of community transmission, the most severe of all.

Las Tunas.- During June, this territory has had its worst transmission numbers of SARS-CoV-2 since the first cases appeared in March 2020. In fact, something unprecedented happened this June 29, when new positives were reported in its eight municipalities; while the total number of confirmed patients already exceeded 1,140 only in the sixth month of the year, for an incidence rate of 138.7 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Now, the fundamental actions indicated by the Temporary Group are aimed, first, at strengthening compliance with the steps taken in recent days to, above all, limiting the mobility of people, without impairing the operation of the main activities of production and basic services.
The first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party in the province, Manuel Pérez Gallego, insisted on this during contact with the municipal authorities. From now on, he said, an accurate assessment must be made of those tasks that can be stopped without damaging key processes such as food production.

Another priority issue, he said, will be the increasingly decentralized organization of the sale of agricultural products and other necessities that arrive both through the basic basket and those whose sale is carried out by the CIMEX and CARIBE store chains, taking as reference the supply card. The initiative of each of the municipalities will be necessary to avoid the concentration of these commercial operations in a few stores or points, he said.

Likewise, the Temporary Group stressed that due to the recent epidemiological situation, all beaches and summer areas are closed, so that only permanent residents can stay in coastal communities. At the same time, vigilance will be raised to prevent the presence of minors in squares, parks, and other outdoor recreation areas.

It was also learned that the current paralysis of state and private-public transport is now being joined by tighter controls at the accesses to the province, including local trails, often used by residents to move to territories with a worse epidemiological panorama, like Camagüey.

In medical care, while the effectiveness of the Public Health protocols should grow and the steps towards the beginning of a new stage of health intervention with the vaccine candidate Abdala will not stop. Other isolation centers for suspected patients will be installed in all municipal districts. Pérez Gallego commented that it will require the support of the political and mass organizations and workers of the sectors that will reduce their activity so that they can collaborate in those facilities; always, he clarified, from the strictest voluntariness.

To the purpose of reducing the crowds of people and their presence in the streets, to which the reduction of opening hours announced by the Banking System and the Post Offices already contributed, are added anticipated actions from other institutions that will be announced as soon as they are coordinated with their respective ministries.

Likewise, from June 30, all tourist trips for national clients from Las Tunas have been canceled, as announced by the Tourist Information Office (Infotur), which asked clients with bookings to contact the travel agency where they reserved for more details.

The procedure body of the Ministry of the Interior reported that all its units stopped the procedures for registering vehicles and driving licenses; the foregoing includes the registration process for electric mopeds. The procedures related to the Identity Card and passport will be maintained, always reinforcing the current organizational measures.

As indicated by the highest governmental instances of the nation, the Temporary Group has emphasized that each municipality can adapt the general established guidelines. In this sense, restrictions on movement and services are particularly severe besides the provincial capital, in the municipalities of Amancio and Colombia, whose epidemiological scenario has worsened in recent weeks.