While the municipality of Puerto Padre announced for this Thursday, September 30, the beginning of maximum limitations of the services and the mobility of its inhabitants; in "Jesús Menéndez," the alert is increased, both reactions aim to stop the growing contagion with the coronavirus registered in those territories to the north of this eastern Cuban province.
In an extraordinary contact, chaired by the highest authorities of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) and the Government in the province, the Temporary Group of the government for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 in Puerto Padre agreed that from this date, the mobility of people will be restricted to the essential workers in production and service centers.
Transportation will also be limited to vehicles associated with the essential tasks of the economy and the confrontation with the SARS-CoV-2. There will not be, they said, institutional visits of the organisms or entities from the provincial capital, except for exceptions authorized by the Provincial Temporary Group. Departures from the municipality will only be allowed with the approval of a processing office to be established in the local government.
All services for the sale of food in cafeterias and restaurants, private or state, will go to the home delivery modality using couriers. While the sales of agricultural products and other high-demand merchandise will be made directly in the neighborhoods, including those offered by the Cuban Bread Chain, and the rest of the Food Industry. This process will take place from the warehouses and using the supply card as a reference.
The start of the 2021-2022 school year was postponed until epidemiological conditions allow it; and the institutions or companies involved must ensure the maintenance of basic services, especially the water supply.
Puerto Padre began the week with an incidence rate of 1,837.1 autochthonous positives per 100,000 inhabitants and more than 250 active cases; all of which places it in the high epidemiological risk stratum along with the municipalities of Jobabo and Manatí.
The increase in contagion is evident in this demarcation, since having the second-lowest rate among the other municipalities at the beginning of January, it is now the second-highest, only surpassed by "Amancio." The estimates of the specialists indicate that the greatest risk of contagion is among the intra-domiciliary contacts of confirmed patients; other data indicate that less than 25 percent of the Puerto Padre population has completed the anti-COVID-19 vaccination cycle.
This week, the Temporary Provincial Group has ensured a stable supply of key supplies to deal with Covid-19, such as nasalferón, interferon, and antigen test kits.
This management body also indicated the reorganization of the municipality's laundry and the increase in the capacity of hospital beds and isolation centers, as well as the training of health workers on biosecurity measures.
“JESÚS MENÉNDEZ” POPULATION MOBILIZES
Until now, the municipality of Jesús Menéndez was going through a relative epidemiological calm, despite it was in that demarcation where the first autochthonous contagion with SARS-CoV-2 occurred, in March 2020. However, during the last 15 days, an increase in the spread of COVID-19 is reflected, with some 330 positive cases in this period, alerted its municipal director of Public Health, Dr. Luis Ernesto Gisbert Ochoa.
Consequently, he said, work is being done on opening other consultations for acute respiratory infections (ARIs), besides the reorganization of the personnel involved in the active inquiry. The manager described the progress of vaccination at different ages as favorable. The application of the third dose of Abdala in the population over 19 years will begin next Monday. However, only 4.5 percent of its inhabitants had the complete anti-COVID-19 vaccination scheme at the beginning of this week, the lowest percentage among the eight Las Tunas municipalities.
Likewise, the local authorities pay a lot of attention to the response of the medical transport, the work of Community Services regarding the deceased; as well as the participation of mass organizations and institutions in community work and the red zones in isolation centers.
"Jesús Menéndez" is still a low-risk space, since its rate of incidence of autochthonous positives per 100,000 inhabitants, from September 16 to date, is only surpassed by that of the provincial capital. However, its sustained rise is notable, especially as of August 15.
EARLY NOTICES
Warned by the experience of what happened in other zones of the Balcón del Oriente Cubano, Manuel Pérez Gallego, the first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) in the province, gave early warnings to the population of both municipalities of what would be the path to avoid a major relapse of their respective epidemiological scenarios.
"It cannot be admitted that there are delays in the consultations, or that people go home without receiving medical attention," he insisted when presiding over an extraordinary contact of the Temporary Group in Puerto Padre. He assured that they have strength in human resources; but he warned that it is necessary to reorganize them, being more rational in their use. Especially, he insisted, it is urgent to transform the quality of care in isolation centers in terms of food, cleanliness, and living conditions.
Regarding "Jesús Menéndez", the also member of the PCC Central Committee reflected on the need to increase the consultation of care for patients with acute respiratory infections in the popular councils, optimizing human resources, depending on the medical offices and isolation centers. It is necessary to create, he concluded, as far as possible, the capacities in the local hospital for the care of low-risk patients and knowing in detail the contacts of suspected and positive cases, to cut the chain of transmission of the coronavirus.
