Hotels become hospitals as Cuba battles soaring COVID cases

Cuba’s hot spot for COVID-19 infections has shifted to the central province of Ciego de Avila, where officials are converting hotels into hospitals

HAVANA -- Cuba's hot spot for COVID-19 infections has shifted to the central province of Ciego de Avila, where officials are converting hotels into hospitals. Instead of tourists, the Hotel Ciego de Avila will hold up to 240 low-risk pediatric patients, officials say, while the Las Canas Motel will have 53 beds for pregnant women with the coronavirus. They are also ordering isolation of whole households when a virus is detected. “The people are very frightened. Every day, more sick, more deaths — a relative, a neighbor, a friend," said Mayi Del Valle, a 49-year-old library worker from the town of Ceballos in the province, speaking by phone Wednesday. “There are people treating COVID in their houses based on herbs.”