Passenger transport restraint in Las Tunas and Puerto Padre

As of Monday, January 18, several measures to limit public transportation of people will come into force in the municipalities of Las Tunas and Puerto Padre to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- From the aforementioned date, the mass transportation routes of people between those cities will continue to operate only to ensure the transfer of essential workers and people with medical situations clearly defined by Public Health, Luis Enrique Arias Peña, director of the Transportation Company of Passengers and General Cargo (CARDINAL), reported.

In the last 15 days, 46 people have been detected with SARS-CoV-2 in this eastern Cuban province, of which the majority resides in these territories. For this reason, the head of Cardinal in this eastern Cuban province that within the provincial capital only routes 1, 7 and 6 will continue to operate; and in each bus, all seated passengers and 70 percent of standing passengers will be allowed.

The manager added that the itineraries of these routes will be reinforced with vehicles from private carriers at a price of 3.00 pesos per person. "The work of horse-drawn carriages, motorcycle taxis and pedicabs will continue," he said.

Arias Peña pointed out that during the week it will be evaluated whether the popular inspectors will continue working at the stops. State entities, he opined, should continue to promote distance work, teleworking and eventually make more flexible or stagger the entry and exit time of their workers to avoid crowds of public employees at stops.

The provincial Governor, Jaime Chiang Vega, urged the population to limit travel to territories with the more complex epidemiological situation. "The best vaccine is to comply with protection measures," he said.

Similarly, the first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) in the province, Manuel Pérez Gallego, insisted that measures have been taken beyond the new normal, but that they are necessary.