The importance of combining vaccination against COVID-19 with sanitary, hygienic and biosecurity measures was highlighted by Raúl Guinovart Díaz, dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Havana, in a meeting this Wednesday of the Temporary Working Group (GTT) in Havana.

Invited by the highest authorities of the capital, Guinovart, on behalf of the Technical Group of Modeling and Epidemiology, reiterated that compliance with the massive intervention program must be accompanied by the correct use of nasobuco, use of alcoholic substances, physical and social distancing and restrictive actions, because immunized people, in some percentage, can acquire and transmit the disease, although it is more difficult for them to reach serious or critical states.

In the meeting, Luis Antonio Torres Iríbar, member of the Central Committee of the Party and first secretary in the city, insisted that the people can never trust and that is why it is important to explain the need to comply with the biosecurity measures in homes and workplaces, and emphasized the organization of the queues in markets and stores.

He acknowledged that although there is a citizen response and the great majority of the people of the capital use the mask and are aware of the rest of what is oriented, we are still unsatisfied.

He called on the health authorities to be more efficient in the stratification of areas where contagions arise, to ask themselves if we are looking for the cases where we should, how the social institutions are doing and always get to the essence of the problems, without complacency, to prevent the return to complex situations.

Iríbar pointed out: "It is not a matter of being modest, but of being responsible because those of us who lead have a very great responsibility and it is with the people. We have to save the people. We must never lose heart in the rigor of our analysis", he said.

Dr. Guinovart Díaz, when giving details on what is happening in the fight against the epidemic now in Havana, said that the incidence rate is decreasing in the municipalities, to the extent that the doses of vaccines are being administered to citizens, and at the same time serious cases and deaths due to this cause are decreasing.

As for the forecasts, he predicted that at the end of July and beginning of August, if the restrictive measures continue to be complied with, together with the sanitary intervention, a certain control of the pandemic could be achieved, while we would arrive at a much more favorable situation for the last days of August and the beginning of September. Always remembering that, for this, it is essential to comply with biosecurity regulations.

He added that for these studies they took into account the experiences of other nations, international publications and especially the experiences of researchers from the Island, some of whom gave their contribution at the TWG meeting, such as Dr. María Vidal Ledo and Master in Science Wilfredo Mobles Lezca.

Torres Iríbar highlighted the value of the proposals, examinations and prognoses made by the experts throughout the fight against the disease and, above all, the timely warnings to act appropriately at all times.

He thanked that their warnings also reach through the social networks in order to correct mistakes or negative trends, and for this work they gained the respect and admiration of the people.

Reinaldo García Zapata, Governor of the city, commented that the country's effort to overcome the epidemic must be accompanied by meticulous and rigorous work at all levels of management.

He recommended bringing the TWG to account the municipalities that slightly increase their parameters and number of contagions, to better stratify the most complex areas and to enter the suspected cases.

Regarding the health intervention process, Dr. Nilda Roca Menéndez, deputy provincial director of Health of the capital, explained that this Tuesday the four planned municipalities (La Lisa, Playa, Plaza and Diez de Octubre) started vaccination. All of them vaccinated more than the 10% planned for the day.

She added that in the capital should be vaccinated a universe of 1 431 000 capital citizens and in first dose is 63 % of that figure. 

Source: Tribuna La Habana