by Yosley Carrero
HAVANA, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Mariana Benitez, an engineer from Havana's El Cerro district, has heightened precautions against COVID-19 while commuting to work. Wearing a face mask, the 53-year-old carefully chooses well-ventilated means of transportation and avoids rush hours.
"The pandemic is under control for the moment, but we have to do our part to minimize the risk of contagion with the virus," she told Xinhua, deeming taking preventive measures strictly critical for Cuba to keep the pandemic at bay.
As the island is seeing a slight increase in new COVID-19 infections, many have started to step up precautions. The daily average of new cases increased from 3.7 in November to 19.1 in December, Cuba's health ministry said Tuesday, calling on people to wear masks in public space, constantly wash hands and strengthen surveillance in nursing homes and schools.
The capital city of Havana and provinces of Matanzas, Guantanamo and Holguin have reported the highest infection rates so far in December, accounting for 62.4 percent of new cases in Cuba.
Yuniesky Rodriguez, a waiter in Havana's entertainment district, said the restaurant he works for had prepared more hand sanitary dispensers and improved ventilation. "We want to ensure that the restaurant operates safely."
During Christmas celebrations, more people ventured out for dinner with relatives and friends, he said.
"Cuba has not reported COVID-19-related deaths over the past 18 weeks," Health Minister Jose Angel Portal Miranda said at Tuesday's governmental meeting.
The Caribbean nation on Tuesday registered 20 new cases and no virus-related deaths, taking the national counts to 1,111,918 and 8,530, respectively.
So far, more than 10 million people of the country's 11.2 million inhabitants have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 9 million have been injected with three doses, according to the health ministry. ■
