Cuba sees repeated spike in daily COVID-19 infections

HAVANA - Cuba on Tuesday reported over 1,000 new daily cases of novel coronavirus infection for the second time in less than a week, after tests detected 1,044 new cases.

According to the latest report from the Ministry of Public Health, a total of 28,636 people have tested positive for COVID-19, 22,921 have recovered and 218 people have died from the disease, two in the past day.

"It is necessary to take note of the severity of the epidemic process that we are facing, and that increasingly requires the active and responsible participation of the entire population," the ministry's national director of hygiene and epidemiology Francisco Duran said during a televised broadcast.

Havana continues to be the epicenter of the national outbreak, with 483 of the new cases, followed by Santiago de Cuba with 165 and Guantanamo with 145, although all provinces, except Camaguey, reported new infections.

The number of community transmissions was also the highest reported to date (1,022), while imported cases, mostly from the United States and six other countries, numbered 22.