Introduction:

From the onset of COVID-19 epidemic, a multidisciplinary team is formed in Santiago de Cuba with the participation of several institutions and activated by the Provincial Defense Council. Integrated epidemiological analysis, government management and social response would be decisive in controlling the disease.

Objectives:

To identify possible groups of COVID-19 cases in the Santiago de Cuba province and to describe the transmission according to epidemiological variables.

Methods:

An ecological study was carried out, comparing COVID-19 transmission clusters. Variables of interest were summarized and analysis of social contact networks was carried out from the point of view of the relationships between cases and contacts, as well as spatial analysis.

Results:

Five spatial transmission groups were identified in the municipalities, one in Palma Soriano, one in Contramaestre and three in Santiago de Cuba. The personal pathological antecedents (hypertension and respiratory processes), female sex, symptomatic cases and the average of 22 to 27 contacts for each confirmed were the most relevant variables. A source of introduced infection was identified in 51% (25/49). In addition, complex social networks were identified in the transmission of the disease.

Conclusions:

The transmission of COVID-19 in Santiago de Cuba province showed groups of cases and contacts with characteristic epidemiological social networks for each municipality, as well as the mode of transmission according to the source of infection, relationships of familiarity or social closeness and the relationship of spatial distance between contacts, which influenced on the low incidence rates of the disease, with predominance of symptomatic form, young ages and in women.

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