The Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine of Cuba ruled out that the patient who arrived to the municipality of Placetas in province of Villa Clara from South Africa, does not carry the Omicrom variant of the SARS-COV 2 Corononavirus, reported Gramma newspaper.

The entity, dedicated to the research, prevention, control and elimination of transmissible diseases, after testing the Cuban with a positive PCR, reported that the subject was a carrier of the Delta strain of the pathogen that causes the Covid-19.

The traveler, who arrived on November 25th, remained in the Manuel Fajardo Hospital without symptoms so far, informed to the local press authorities of Placetas.

The director of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Villa Clara, Neil Reyes, described that the subject remains asymptomatic and all his direct contacts have been isolated and were negative to the first PCR test.

The doctor warned earlier that only the results of the National Reference Laboratory could determine whether or not it is the new variant of the Coronavirus so called Omicrom, classified as worrying by the World Health Organization.

The new strain has a rapid dissemination, which is why the Ministry of Public Health of the Caribbean Island decided to implement new measures to reinforce the control of the international travelers as of this Saturday.

Among the determinations is that those coming from South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Botswana, Malawi and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) must submit a complete vaccination schedule upon arrival. In addition to a negative PCR result performed at least 72 hours prior to travel, a sample for PCR-RT for SARS-COV 2 will be taken and they will go to mandatory quarantine in a hotel designated for this purpose, while the traveler must assume the cost of accommodation and transportation.

A new sample for PCR-RT for SARS-COV 2 will be taken on the sixth day and if it is negative, they will be released from quarantine on the seventh day.

In the case of travelers coming from Belgium, Israel, Hong Kong, Egypt, Turkey, and the rest of the countries of the Sub-Saharan Africa ( Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Chad, Comoras, Ivory Coast) among others, the same measures will be applied as in the previous list of countries with the exception of quarantine and PCR-RT on the sixth day.

The President of BioCubaFarma, Dr. Eduardo Martínez, said through his Twitter account that they are carefully observing the reports of the new Omicrom variant.

We carefully observe the World Health Organization reports of the new Omicrom variant. We are already working on specific vaccines. If necessary in a short time we will develop them.

Source: Cubadebate