Facing a steep rebound in coronavirus infections since fully re-opening borders last month, Cuba will require all inbound travellers from next year to provide proof of a negative test before departure in addition to current screening upon arrival.
Cuba received plaudits for successfully containing its coronavirus outbreak by isolating cases and suspected cases, contact tracing and active monitoring of the population, in addition to deploying a partial lockdown.
But like countries worldwide it has having to weigh the need to open up – especially important in the tourism-reliant Caribbean – with the need to prevent the spread of the virus. The pandemic and tougher U.S. sanctions on top of domestic inefficiencies have plunged the import-dependent island nation into crisis, rendering even the most basic goods scarce.
Cuba’s daily infection rate per capita remains low – at just 15% of the global average, according to Our World in Data – but has doubled over the past month, largely due to imported cases, according to official data.
The island nation of 11 million reported a new record of 142 cases last week for the previous day, nearly half of which were imported, bringing the accumulated total to 10,384 reported cases and 139 deaths from the novel coronavirus.
To date, Cuba has required visitors to take a test upon arrival at the airport and to quarantine in their hotel until receiving the results two days later. Returning residents or those going to live “in the community” like Cuban Americans going to stay with family are required to take another test around five days later and to quarantine until receiving the results of that second test.
But some visitors have ignored the regulations and around two thirds of the infected people arriving in Cuba are transmitting the illness, according to state-run media.
Now, all inbound travelers will also have to provide a certificate of a negative PCR test conducted in the 72 hours before arrival in Cuba, according to the Pan American Health Organization’s office in Havana and at least two European embassies that say they were notified by the government. The Cuban government has not yet officially announced the measure and did not reply to a request for comment.
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