Cuba has decided to lift most of the COVID-related restrictions in the second week of November, as the communist island seeks help from the tourism industry to bring the economy back on its feet.
The country has already eased travel restrictions in areas where COVID cases are few and far between.
From 15 November onwards, officials at Cuban airports will not insist foreigners that they display recent PCR test results. They will only check the temperature and ask for vaccination certificates, reported Granma, the communist party’s newspaper.
Currently, everyone visiting Cuba needs to undergo a COVID-19 test and spend two weeks in isolation at a hotel owned by the government.
In the meantime, the government has speeded up the vaccination program, hoping to inoculate 90% of its population by the beginning of the tourism season later this year.
Earlier in June this year, Cuba launched its own vaccine called Abdala and began administering it to people residing in and around capital Havana.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has not officially recognized the vaccine, as the Cuban government is yet to release data from late-phase trials.
In addition to the economic crisis, Cuba is also struggling to deal with shortages of medicines and doctors.
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