Cuba: Great Concern about Growing Number of Children with COVID-19

Protecting children, adolescents, pregnant women and other vulnerable groups from COVID-19 infection is everyone’s responsibility, from the government and medical personnel, but it is, first and foremost, the responsibility of the Cuban family.

In view of the considerable increase that has occurred in the diagnosis of patients within these groups -especially children and adolescents-, in the first days of 2021, the temporary working group for the prevention and control of the new coronavirus, headed by the President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, insisted on Monday on the urgency of keeping the little ones at home and not exposing them unnecessarily to the risks involved in such a dangerous disease.

Cuba Reports 580 New COVID-19 Infections and 4 Fatalities

As of January 31, figures showed, for example, that 2,882 minors were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 in Cuba, of which about 1,600 fell ill in the first month of the year. In February, unfortunately, the numbers continue to rise.

On Monday alone, Public Health Minister José Angel Portal Miranda detailed, of the 653 positive cases reported, 14.2% corresponded to children under 20 years of age.

In the pediatric age group, he added, 709 patients were confirmed with the disease. Of these, one adolescent was reported as seriously ill, although with a favorable evolution of his state of health.

A total of 40 pregnant women and six postpartum women, he added, remained as active cases, all with a favorable evolution.

In general, Portal Miranda explained, 5,595 infected persons were admitted, 68 of whom were in critical or serious condition. As a favorable aspect, he highlighted that 855 medical discharges were granted, a figure higher than the number of reported infections.

Although at the end of Sunday there was a slight decrease in the number of positive cases with respect to previous days, the epidemiological situation in the country continues to be complex.