Havana, Apr 12 (IANS): Cuba reported five deaths and 1,040 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the death toll to 453 and the total number of cases to 85,572, the Ministry of Public Health reported.

"These are bad signs that reflect the high transmission and complications generated by the disease," said the ministry's national director of hygiene and epidemiology Francisco Duran on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Duran stated that 32 patients with Covid-19 were currently reported to be in critical condition and 25 in serious condition, while 1,042 people were discharged from the hospital in the last day, bringing the number of recovered to 79,958.

Most of the cases registered in the last day were reported in Havana, which continues to be the epicenter of the disease, followed by the provinces of Matanzas and Granma.

Cuba is currently in intervention trials and Phase III trials of two vaccine candidates against Covid-19, Soberana-02 and Abdala, while three other vaccine projects are in various stages of research.