Cuba confirms first 3 COVID-19 cases

HAVANA - The Cuban Ministry of Public Health confirmed here on Wednesday that three Italian tourists have tested positive for COVID-19, the first confirmed cases reported in the country.

In a brief note released on Cuban state television, the ministry said that out of four Italian tourists transferred on Tuesday to Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute in Havana, three tested positive for COVID-19.

The tourists who were confirmed to have been infected arrived in Havana on Monday and traveled to the city of Trinidad in the central province of Sancti Spiritus, according to the ministry.

Their conditions at this stage are not life-threatening, the ministry said.

The press release also said that people who have interacted with the Italian tourists during their stay on the island nation have not reported COVID-19 symptoms.

Earlier this week, Cuban Public Health Minister Jose Angel Portal said that three medical laboratories were set up in the provinces of Havana, Santa Clara and Santiago de Cuba to test samples from the western, central and eastern regions.

Portal also said 3,200 beds and intensive care units are available for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitals across the island country.