Cuba Updates Covid-19 Health Protocol for Tourists

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – International travelers must have a negative PCR test, carried out within 72 hours before arriving in Cuba. The MINTUR also established that tourists cannot travel outside the province where they are staying.

The Cuban Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) updated the sanitary protocol to reduce the chances of contagion with COVID-19 and continue that sector’s operations in the island’s main destinations, the state media reported this Saturday, January 16th .

International travelers must have a negative PCR test, carried out no more than 72 hours before arrival in Cuba, according to Prensa Latina news agency, which cited the measures disclosed on the MINTUR website.

Upon arrival on the island, tourists will undergo a diagnostic test as has been happening so far. Travelers who test positive will be transferred to a hospital, if they have symptoms of the disease, while asymptomatic and suspects will go to a hotel with hospital conditions.

Likewise, the requirement of an insurance policy that covers COVID-19 is maintained; international visitors will be able to buy the policy at airports for 30 USD or its equivalent in another freely convertible currency, the source indicated.

The new health regulations approved by the Cuban authorities include the mandatory use of masks in hotels, which will only accommodate 60% of their capacity.

MINTUR also established that tourists cannot travel outside the province where they are staying.

The island’s tourism sector, one of the Cuban economy’s locomotives, is committed to recovering the arrival of international visitors even in the difficult epidemiological conditions caused by the pandemic.

Despite going through the worst outbreak of COVID-19 since the disease appeared in the country last March, Cuba keeps its international airports and tourist activity in cities open, after a stage in which travelers were only allowed to stay in tourist destinations located in the keys.

Globally, the sector registered a 72% drop in 2020, and more than 935 billion dollars’ worth of losses, according to data from the World Tourism Organization cited by the source.

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