ES / EN
- January 27, 2023 -
No Result
View All Result
OnCubaNews Needs You
OnCubaNews
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
OnCubaNews
ES / EN
Home Coronavirus

Cuba faces its worst health crisis of entire COVID-19 pandemic

The incidence rate of the disease on the island in the last two weeks is 381 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. In the province of Matanzas, which has become the current epicenter in the country, it is 1,316, a figure higher than that of Madrid in its worst moments of the pandemic.

by Atahualpa Amerise / EFE
July 8, 2021
in Coronavirus
0
The Cuban province of Matanzas is going through the worst hospital situation, stressed by the daily increase in COVID-19 cases. Photo: tvyumuri.cu

The Cuban province of Matanzas is going through the worst hospital situation, stressed by the daily increase in COVID-19 cases. Photo: tvyumuri.cu

Cuba is suffering its worst outbreak of COVID-19, with an almost daily record of infections and on the verge of health collapse in the province of Matanzas, where patients accumulate in hospital corridors and medicines are lacking.

The COVID-19 incidence rate in Cuba in the last two weeks is 381 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. In the province of Matanzas, located east of Havana, it is 1,316, a figure higher than that of Madrid in its worst moments of the pandemic.

Coronavirus: Cuba reporta la cifra más elevada de contagios en un día, 3664 el martes

“We have put beds in the corridors,” a doctor from the hospital in the city of Cárdenas declared on the provincial channel TV Yumurí, who laments the lack of oxygen and blood gases to attend to an avalanche of patients with respiratory difficulties.

From Cárdenas, one of the most affected cities, images arrive of patients crammed into hospitals, some of them lying on benches in waiting rooms, on the floor of the corridors or in the middle of the street in front of the entrance, where they are treated as best an overwhelmed medical staff can.

“This is really scary,” a young woman from Matanzas said to EFE, reflecting the widespread fear in this province, where Internet users today share the following message on their social networks: “S.O.S. Help Matanzas! We need medicines. We need medical attention. Our doctors need help. #SalvenaMatanzas.”

Related Posts

Child vaccination in Cuba during the pandemic. Photo: Modesto Gutiérrez Cabo/ACN/Archive.

Cuba announces clinical trials in children under two years of age to immunize them against SARS-CoV-2

May 11, 2022
The national director of Epidemiology, quoted by Prensa Latina news agency, explained that the measures imposed by the health authorities are maintained at all points of entry into the country, such as physical distancing, washing hands and cleaning surfaces, and the mandatory use of the mask. Photo: Kaloian.

Health protocols: Cuba to stop requiring PCR and vaccination certificate from travelers

April 5, 2022
Photo: Kaloian

Two years of pandemic in the Cuban calendar

March 12, 2022
A nurse gets ready to apply a dose of the Cuban COVID-19 Abdala vaccine. Photo: Modesto Gutiérrez Cabo/ACN/Archive.

Is booster vaccination at a standstill in Cuba?

March 8, 2022

Students and the Henry Reeve Brigade

Faced with this alarming situation, the government has taken drastic measures, such as sending a group of 36 military doctors and nurses to Cárdenas, and licensing in advance 373 last-year medical students in the province, who will be added to the care of the sick.

In addition, a contingent of 200 medical personnel from the Henry Reeve International Brigade, until now exclusively for operations abroad, has been sent to Matanzas.

Gobierno cubano envía médicos a una Matanzas cercada por la COVID-19

Doctors mobilized en masse to the affected areas will work in a difficult situation, not only because of the overcrowding of patients but also because of another problem that Cuba has suffered for months: the shortage of medicines.

Getting a simple painkiller or an antibiotic is an odyssey in the Caribbean country, whose pharmacies and hospitals are practically empty in the midst of a strong economic crisis aggravated by the pandemic, the U.S. embargo and continuous domestic measures of questioned efficiency.

“Vaccination is not enough”

It is paradoxical that Cuba is suffering its worst health crisis due to COVID-19 precisely at the height of the vaccination campaign.

Almost three of its 11.2 million inhabitants have received at least one of the three doses of Soberana 02 or Abdala, the two locally manufactured vaccine candidates that have shown high efficacy pending their final approval.

Captura de pantalla del perfil de Twitter del Ministerio de Salud Pública de Cuba (Minsap).

Screenshot of the Twitter profile of the Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP).

Vaccination “is the long-term solution that will prevent a moment of crisis like the current one from returning, but it requires time, and when it occurs in the midst of a wave like the one Cuba is facing, non-pharmacological measures must be applied,” the Cuban molecular biologist and researcher at the University of the State of Sao Paulo (UNESP) Amílcar Pérez Riverol explained to EFE.

“The examples from countries like Chile or Brazil show that vaccination alone is not enough to immediately stop outbreaks,” he warns.

Delta in Cuba, from Russia?

Regarding the causes of the virulent summer outbreak in Cuba, the expert points out, among others, the “pandemic fatigue” with the consequent drop in risk perception, street crowds as a result of food shortages or the circulation of new variants with higher transmissibility, such as Delta.

Many have linked the irruption of the Delta strain and the high spread in Matanzas with the massive presence of Russian tourists in the main tourist destination of the province, Varadero, where they could have infected workers in the sector and these have spread the virus in the nearby municipality of Cárdenas and other cities and towns in the surrounding area.

More than 100 Russian tourists isolated in Varadero hotels due to COVID-19

“This is very difficult to prove. It would need a serious epidemiological analysis. What is certain is that Russia is registering daily records of cases and deaths due to the circulation of the Delta variant,” Pérez Riverol said regarding this hypothesis.

For the biologist, “the current trend indicates that in the immediate future the epidemiological situation will be complicated, not only in terms of infections but also in terms of pressure on the hospital system” in Cuba.

The country broke its absolute record of cases detected for the second day in a row this Wednesday with 3,664, in a day in which there were 18 deaths.

The UNESP researcher considers that the evolution in the short and medium term will depend on the country’s ability to correct the various factors that have led to this situation and on the speed at which the vaccination process advances.

Author

Atahualpa Amerise / EFE
Tags: coronavirus in CubaMatanzas
Previous Post

More than 100 Russian tourists isolated in Varadero hotels due to COVID-19

Next Post

Cuban delegation to Tokyo Games will finally comprise 69 athletes

Atahualpa Amerise / EFE

Atahualpa Amerise / EFE

Next Post
Cuban multi-champion boxer Mijaín López. Photo: trabajadores.cu/Archive.

Cuban delegation to Tokyo Games will finally comprise 69 athletes

Photo: Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN).

Soberana 02: 91.2% effective in its three-dose scheme

A nurse injects a woman in Havana with the Cuban Abdala COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

COVID-19: Cuban drug regulator approves emergency use of Abdala vaccine

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

The conversation here is moderated according to OnCuba News discussion guidelines. Please read the Comment Policy before joining the discussion.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Most Read

  • The Enchanted Shrimp of the Cuban Dance

    1481 shares
    Share 592 Tweet 370
  • What foods can be brought to Cuba and what imports are forbidden?

    377 shares
    Share 151 Tweet 94
  • Biden and Cuba, the good and the bad…these days

    13 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • Family Reunification Parole has not been canceled, U.S. Embassy in Cuba reported

    11 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 3
  • New online form for travelers arriving in Cuba

    42 shares
    Share 17 Tweet 11

Most Commented

    • About us
    • Work with OnCuba
    • Terms of use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Moderation policy for comments
    • Contact us
    • Advertisement offers

    OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
    OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • World
    • Cuba
    • Cuba-USA
    • Opinion
      • Columns
      • Infographic
    • Culture
      • Billboard
    • Sports
    • Styles / Trends
    • Media
    • Special
    • Cuban Flavors

    OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
    OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

    Go to mobile version