Cuba, omicron and the vaccination process (+ Video)

Duran Garcia recalled that In January 2021, changes in the behavior of the epidemic began to be noticed, starting with the arrival of international travelers. The number of cases increased and it was in April, when the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 was detected, more contagious than the one that was circulating and a little more severe, when the country experienced an increase in the number of patients.

July, August and September 2021 -the national director of Epidemiology continued- were the months with the highest incidence of covid-19 in Cuba, with very high numbers of positive and deceased patients.

Towards the months of October and November the figures began to decrease, due to prevention measures and, most importantly, the effect of vaccination, which was decisive. “It went down until December saw the lowest figure for the period, 3,845 cases.

“In December you have to take into account several things. On December 1, the first case of the omicron variant was detected in the province of Pinar del Río. In addition, the opening of the borders, with an increase in flights to the island, led to a modification of the protocols, with studies of a number of people who were arriving.

“In January the number of cases increases, which has persisted during the last three weeks,” said Durán García, specifying that indigenous transmission continues to be predominant in the national territory, although there is also an increase in imported cases, as a result of the increased circulation of the omicron variant in the world.

He explained that ómicron is highly contagious, but less virulent; that is, it causes less severe symptoms. Added to this is the fact that practically the entire Cuban population is vaccinated, which means that, although there is a high number of cases, those that evolve towards serious and critical states and towards death are much less than with the delta variant. “I reiterate, both because of the characteristics of the variant and because of the level of vaccination of our population,” he stressed.

The lethality of July, August, September and October 2021 was very high. “Talking about 2,532 deaths in a month is something that is shocking,” he said.

“Then it went down, in December the lowest number was reported (18 deaths and a lethality of 0.46, there were very few cases) , and in January, although it has grown in relation to December, until last Saturday the country registered 40 deaths, for a lethality of 0.07%. Why does the lethality drop even though there are more deaths than in December? Because the denominator is much higher, there are many more cases,” he explained.

Regarding the incidence rate of confirmed cases per 100,000 inhabitants, Durán García pointed out that in the last 14 days it rose to 399 in Cuba. The highest values ​​were recorded in the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, followed by the provinces of Mayabeque, Las Tunas, Cienfuegos, Artemisa, Ciego de Ávila, Pinar del Río, Guantánamo and Sancti Spíritus, although only five provinces are below the national incidence rate (399 per 100,000 inhabitants)

Of the omicron variant, 198 cases were diagnosed, “which does not mean that they are the only ones in the country,” the expert clarified. “Not all positive PCR tests undergo the necessary sequencing to determine if it is omicron, because it is expensive and it is already known to be circulating.”

The study, however, revealed that of the total number of cases with omicron, 144 are indigenous transmission and the rest are imported; 163 of those infected are Cuban and the existence of cases in all provinces was confirmed.

Durán García drew attention to the fact that a good part of those who become infected with this variant go through the disease asymptomatically or with very mild manifestations. It is for this reason that many in Cuba are not even diagnosed., because they do not go to the health services, but rather, faced with any symptoms, as they are vaccinated, they choose to self-isolate at home.

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