Cuba To Ease Travel Restrictions in November

Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism will ease pandemic restrictions on visitors beginning November 15, said ministry officials in a statement. The news comes as the island takes steps to arrest a recent surge in COVID-19 infections.

Ministry officials credited progress in Cuba’s vaccination program, under which officials predict “more than 90 percent of the entire population will complete vaccination schedules” by November. “Sanitary hygienic protocols will be relaxed” upon travelers’ arrival, said Ministry officials, with protocols focused on “the surveillance of symptomatic patients and temperature-taking.”

Additionally, diagnostic tests will be carried out randomly, and PCR testing will no longer be required upon arrival. Cuban customs officials will also accept travelers’ vaccination certificates issued abroad.

Cuba on Monday reported 7,230 new, confirmed COVID-19 cases and 85 deaths in 24 hours, bringing the country’s total to 696,904 cases with 5,788 deaths among its 11 million citizens according to press reports. Cuba is using locally produced coronavirus vaccines Abdala and Soberana, which are not recognized by the World Health Organization but have demonstrated a 90 percent efficacy rate in local clinical trials.

Cuba travelers are required to submit a health declaration, obtain a Cuba Tourist Card from their airline, produce proof of a negative PCR test result taken within 72 hours of arrival and take a PCR test upon arrival. Travelers to Cuba are also barred from strictly tourist activities and can visit the country only under one of 12 categories, including support for the Cuban people.

Visitors are also required to obtain travel insurance covering COVID-19 and quarantine in their accommodations until test results arrive. Cuba resumed scheduled commercial flights in November 2020, with Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport reopening a pandemic-driven closure of more than seven months.