Background: there is no specific treatment for COVID-19. Cuba has developed a treatment protocol that in practice has led the patients’ progress to seriousness minimizing mortality.Objective: to describe aspects of the patients’ progress treated according to the Cuban protocol for COVID-19 at the “Frank País” Hospital of Havana, from March to May 2020.Methods: a quasi-experimental study was carried out with 32 COVID-19 positive patients. Treatment was performed according to the Cuban protocol (azythromycin, oseltamivir, lopinavir/ritonavir, chloroquine and recombinant interferon alpha-2B). Signs and symptoms were assessed at admission and at 96 hours, as well as progress and adverse reactions to treatment.Results: the 60 and over age group with 13 patients (40,62 %) and the male sex with 21 patients (65,62 %) prevailed. At 96 hours there was a significant improvement of symptoms, remaining one febrile case, general malaise disappeared in 15 patients, dyspnea in 14, sore throat in 12 and dry cough in 11. There was a reduction to five patients with symptoms. A significant improvement of signs was observed (respiratory rate, heart rate, oxygen saturation, leukocytes and plasmatic sodium). Recombinant interferon alpha-2B was the medication with most side effects. Four patients (12,5 %) progressed to seriousness, with a prevalence of the female sex.Conclusions: the patients of the study, according to the Cuban protocol for COVID-19, had an evident clinical improvement at 96 hours of the start of treatment.</p
