Cuba Council of Ministers Updates Plan for COVID-19 Prevention

The Council of Ministers met in an extraordinary session on Thursday to update the Plan for the Prevention and Control of the new coronavirus in Cuba.

The disease has already registered 95,315 cases in 80 countries with 3,282 deaths.

Earlier this week, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party held a meeting led by its First Secretary, Army General Raul Castro Ruz – to specify new measures to contain the risk of introduction and dissemination of COVID-19 on the island.

So far, Cuba has not recorded any confirmed case of COVID-19. Even so, 
President  Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez assured at the meeting that intense work was done to update and perfect the Plan to face the disease.

The Plan was first presented at the January session of the Council of Ministers.

The head of state stressed that there are threats and a danger for the country to have the presence of the new coronavirus, due to the situation in the Americas and the Caribbean. 

Reportedly, eight nations in the hemisphere are reporting cases: The United States (159), Canada (33), Ecuador (10), Mexico (5), Brazil (3), Chile (3), Dominican Republic (1) and Argentina (1).

Díaz-Canel added the Plan seeks to prevent the disease from entering the country and, if it does, to mitigate its effects.

“This requires all the bodies of the Central State Administration to work  together with the political and mass organizations, with responsibility, seriousness… intelligence, observation, agility, efficiency, systematic control and, above all, with clarity in the modes of action for each possible scenario, ” he said

The President argued that it was necessary to  generate an environment of trust and security among the population, “to discard uncertainty and contribute to the preparation for the necessary citizen involvement in all the actions of this Plan.”

He insisted on the fundamental role played by grassroots structures, such as the family doctor’s office, the district delegates, the presidents of the people’s councils, the mass organizations, and the labor movement.

“All the work we do with the people is important so that they are well oriented, well prepared, and can participate. We can achieve this with popular participation, with convocation and with the work of all,” he said.

The President underlined that it is necessary to work so that the people have an adequate response, of which the people themselves will be a part.

Díaz-Canel also listed some of the actions that will be carried out immediately. 

He mentioned three territorial meetings starting this Friday in the west, center, and east of the country; daily follow up meetings from the government; round tables, videoconferences with the governors, and public hearings in communities and work centers.

Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, considered in this regard that the Plan approved this Thursday is more comprehensive than the previous one and will have a more significant effect on the prevention and control of the new coronavirus. 

He also emphasized the responsibility of all the agencies of the Central State Administration, especially now the Ministries of Health, Transport, and Tourism.