Introduction:

SARS-CoV-2 is the causal agent of COVID-19, which has already become a pandemic that plagues the world with significant mortality rates, whose clinical-epidemiological characteristics are still surrounded by various scientific gaps.

Objective:

To characterize clinically and epidemiologically COVID-19 cases in Holguín.

Method:

Observational descriptive study of COVID-19 pandemic in the province. The 92 cases confirmed by PCR were characterized, taking into account the epidemiological variables of age, sex, place of origin, presence of symptoms at diagnosis, opportunity at admission and main symptoms; in addition, the incidence and fatality rates were determined.

Results:

Male sex predominated; the most affected age group was the one between 50 and 59 years; the most affected municipalities were Holguín, Gibara and Banes; the main symptoms at the beginning of the disease were cough, fever, runny nose and odynophagia, but more than half of the cases were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis and they did not present secondary cases; less than a third of the cases were admitted in the first days after the symptoms started, which influenced their subsequent evolution and convalescence.

Conclusions:

COVID-19 is a highly contagious respiratory disease that must be adequately cared for in order to reduce its lethality and for which the epidemiological control of each suspected case takes on great importance.

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