Cuba to ease COVID-19 restrictions in June

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Thursday that the country will start a phased post-COVID-19 recovery plan in the coming weeks.

"Production and social activities will return to normal in a gradual, staged, and asymmetrical way," he said during a special program on state TV Cubavision. "We have to maintain sanitary measures in all public spaces."

Diaz-Canel also said the Cuban government is making efforts to avoid a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak on the island between September and November as predicted by experts.

It comes after the nationwide tally of daily increased COVID-19 cases dropped from a peak of nearly 70 in early May to an average of fewer than 10 over the past few weeks.

"Restrictions on entering and leaving the country remain effective during the first and second phases of the plan as well as suspension of commercial flights," Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said on the same occasion on TV Thursday.

The Caribbean country's tourism industry will open hotel facilities for Cubans and subsequently, international tourists will be only allowed to enter resorts in the northern and southern keys of the island nation, Marrero added.

"Passengers will be subjected to temperature checks and PCR tests when arriving at Cuban airports as well as epidemiological monitoring to be carried out by a medical team at touristic centers and hotels," he said.

Cuba will resume public transportation in metropolitan and rural areas, mainly to support essential services across the country's 168 municipalities. And schools are due to reopen in September.

According to the Caribbean island's post-COVID-19 recovery plan, Cubans will go back to the country's beaches, swimming pools, camping sites, and gyms, albeit social distancing measures will be adopted in keeping with COVID-19 health protocols.

Local authorities urged citizens to maintain sanitary and disinfecting procedures at workplaces, adding that people reporting symptoms of respiratory diseases will not be permitted to work.

Keeping physical distance and wearing face masks will be compulsory at outdoor and public activities during the implementation of the first phase of the plan, which will be relaxed in at the second stage, the Cuban government said.

Meanwhile, Cuban Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Alejandro Gil said on the same occasion Thursday that the island is facing a complex economic situation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The most effective way to protect the economy is protecting people's health," he said. "National food production is the first priority at the moment."

As Cuba's capital Havana stands as the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic on the island, 13 provinces have remained virus-free during the past two weeks.

On March 11, Cuba reported three Italian tourists visiting the city of Trinidad, located some 350 km away from Havana, as the country's first confirmed COVID-19 cases.

So far, the island nation has registered 84 deaths from the deadly virus as confirmed cases on Thursday topped 2,229.

(By Yosley Carrero)