Havana, Cuba.- The Cuban Ministry of Public Health informed today that 1,229 patients are being admitted for clinical-epidemiological surveillance as part of the actions to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV -2 virus, the cause of Covid-19.

According to the ministry, until March 23, 174 foreigners and 1,055 Cubans were in the isolation and care centers created for this purpose.

Another 33,132 people are being monitored from the Primary Health Care in their homes, according to the Cuban health authorities, who reported that the number of confirmed cases rose to 48.

The Public Health Ministry also announced the first discharge of a patient who recovered after testing positive for infection.

This is the first case. A 25-year-old Cuban resident of Villa Clara, diagnosed with the disease on March 16, the husband of a Bolivian woman who had returned from Italy, both went to the health system with respiratory symptoms. She tested negative.

From that moment on, the surveillance system was activated and the two were admitted to the military hospital in that central province, for subsequent transfer to the Pedro Kouri Cuban Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK) in Havana.

After the necessary tests, the patient tested positive for Covid-19 and after a few days he maintained a favorable evolution, according to the official parties.

The discharged patient continues to be admitted to his home for 14 days, under daily medical supervision.

Worldwide, 338,307 cases have been confirmed, with 14,602 deaths in 164 countries and a fatality rate of 4.3 percent.

The World Health Organization reports 102 countries with transmission, and in the Region of the Americas 33 nations and 11 overseas territories are affected. In this geographic area, 41,879 cases were confirmed and 554 deaths occurred.