Borders remain open, control to be reinforced, says presiddent

Havana, Nov 30 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Tuesday that Cuba will not close borders, but will reinforce the control of international travelers, in view of the appearance of the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, called Omicron.

“#Cuba will adopt measures to preserve what we have achieved,” the president wrote on his Twitter account and shared the information note of the Public Health Ministry (Minsap) with new procedures for those arriving in this nation from December 4.

Yesterday, health authorities announced the decision to require an official document validating full immunization for visitors from Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, South Africa, Namibia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Esuatini, countries where the strain has already been reported.

Samples will also be taken for PCR upon arrival and must show a negative result of the last test performed 72 hours before traveling to this Caribbean island.

Travelers will spend a seven-day quarantine in a hotel designated for that purpose, with lodging and transportation expenses to be paid by the travelers.

A second PCR will be performed on the sixth day at the facility and, if they are negative to the test, they will be discharged on the seventh day, said Francisco Duran, national director of Epidemiology at a press conference.

Meanwhile, travelers coming from Israel, Belgium, Hong Kong, Egypt, Turkey and other sub-Saharan African nations will also comply with these measures with the exception of quarantine and a second PCR.