Cuban medical team to arrive next week

By Olivia Rose

TWENTY Cuban medical professionals are expected to arrive in the TCI next week to help strengthen the territory’s fight against Covid-19.

The multi-disciplinary team will be deployed to the territory for three months, Minister of Health Hon. Edwin Astwood revealed in House of Assembly on Friday, May 29.

“If it needs to be extended, the request will be made prior to end of the period,” he said.

The team of physicians, nurses, technicians and an administrator will be quarantined for 14 days upon arrival and then deployed to local hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

The medical team hails from the Henry Reeve Emergency Medical Contingent, named after a US-born general who fought in the First Cuban War of Independence in the 19th century.

It was created in 2005 by the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro and specialises in response to natural disasters and outbreaks.

In April, shortly after the World Health Organistion (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, the TCI Government sought assistance from Cuba.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, similar medical teams were deployed to Italy, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Surinam, Jamaica, Haiti, Belize and Dominica.

They were also dispatched to the island nations of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, St Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda.

Cuba has a long history of internationalism and humanitarian intervention.

The Caribbean nation is known for deploying medical teams to assist countries around the world during a crisis.