Mar 23, 2020
Cuba will close its borders to international tourism and non-resident visitors for at least a month, Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel announced on March 20. Cuban residents and foreigners who live on the island will still be allowed to enter Cuba, but would have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period in special facilities upon arrival.
The new border-control regulations go into effect tomorrow, on March 24. In addition, some 60,000 tourists already on the island would be leaving in the coming days, Cuban authorities said.
“This should enable us to stop [importing virus]cases and to focus on detecting those there are in the country and stopping transmission,” stated Díaz-Canel.
Cuba’s first cases of Coronavirus were reported on March 11 when a group of Italian tourists was diagnosed with the virus. As of today, medical authorities in Cuba have confirmed 40 cases and there are more than 1,000 people hospitalized, according to CNN. There has been one death from the virus, according to multiple news reports.
