Neighbors applaud doctors and nurses battling COVID-19, in Havana, capital of Cuba on Monday. Strict lockdowns aimed at halting the march of the coronavirus pandemic extended worldwide Monday as the death toll soared past 37,600. Photo: AFP

 
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Cuba surpassed 1,000 on Sunday with 34 deaths, according to a senior Cuban health official.

Among the 49 new cases, five patients came from a senior citizen home in Santa Clara city, some 270 km away from the capital Havana, said Francisco Duran, national director of epidemiology at the country's Ministry of Public Health.

"More testing for the coronavirus will be carried out so that we will be able to detect people who have contracted COVID-19 without showing symptoms," Duran said.

With 376 confirmed cases, Havana remains the worst-affected province in the country, followed by Villa Clara and Ciego de Avila with 167 and 76, respectively.

Cuban health authorities said 2,266 suspected cases remain in medical centers while 255 former patients have been discharged from hospitals.

The Cuban government estimates that the island nation will have its peak of COVID-19 by the first half of May with nearly 4,500 confirmed cases expected in the worst-case scenario.