Seated before a machine that checks cigar quality, Orquidea Gonzalez says she is proud to carry on the craft's tradition and contribute to an export industry that has grown during the pandemic.
Seated before a machine that checks cigar quality, Orquidea Gonzalez says she is proud to carry on the craft's tradition and contribute to an export industry that has grown during the pandemic.
Seated before a machine that checks cigar quality, Orquidea Gonzalez says she is proud to carry on the craft's tradition and contribute to an export industry
Virus slams Cuba as it races to roll out its new vaccines
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZJuly 20, 2021 GMT
HAVANA (AP) The COVID-19 pandemic is slamming Cuba like never before, even as the country races to roll out its homegrown vaccines the only locally developed shots being widely used in Latin America.
The island had seen far fewer infections that most other Latin American nations over the first year or so of the disease, imposing strict quarantines, isolating the infected and shutting down its tourism industry despite devastating economic consequences.
But new cases have been soaring in recent weeks, with an average of about 6,000 a day being reported in the country of 11 million people. The first three weeks of July have accounted for about 100,000 of the nearly 300,000 infections recorded altogether in Cuba since the first case arrived some 16 months ago.
Virus slams Cuba as it races to roll out its new vaccines
ANDREA RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press
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1of11FILE - In this June 23, 2021 file photo, people sign up for a dose of the Cuban Abdala COVID-19 vaccine in Havana, Cuba. Cuba has been trying to rapidly roll out the two vaccines that it has approved for massive use, Abdala and Soberana, both of which require three jabs.Ramon Espinosa/APShow MoreShow Less
2of11FILE - In this June 23, 2021 file photo, a nurse prepares a dose of the Cuban Abdala COVID-19 vaccine in Havana, Cuba. Cuba has been trying to rapidly roll out the two vaccines that it has approved for massive use, Abdala and Soberana, both of which require three jabs.Ramon Espinosa/APShow MoreShow Less