Cuba to relax travel entry health measures

Havana, April 5 (IANS) Cuba will relax health measures for travellers entering the Caribbean country starting from Wednesday, the Ministry of Public Health announced.

Francisco Duran, the Ministry's National Director of Hygiene and Epidemiology, on Monday said the requirement to present a vaccination certificate on arrival as well as a negative Covid-19 PCR test will be eliminated, Xinhua news agency reported.

Random sampling for Covid-19 will continue at ports and airports, and it will be mostly aimed at people coming from countries with a high incidence rate, while people who test positive will be hospitalised in accordance with the existing protocol.

Other health measures such as physical distancing, hand washing, surface cleaning and the use of masks will be maintained.

"The relaxation of measures took into account the high immunisation rate (against Covid-19) in the country, with three doses and a booster dose given to a large part of the population," Duran added.

Cuba has so far vaccinated more than 9.9 million of its 11.2 million residents with Cuban-made vaccines, while more than 6.3 million have received a booster dose.

Figures released by the Health Ministry showed Cuba reported 619 new Covid-19 infections and one death on Sunday, bringing the country's total to 1,093,166 cases and 8,515 deaths