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Just over 200 Cubans, including doctors, head to South Africa to help in the battle against the spread of Covid-19.
Medical personnel will land at OR Tambo International Airport on Sunday and go directly to quarantine for 14 days in Pretoria. About 30 Cubans will be assigned to the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) and the rest will help the health department.
“These are doctors who have been to Europe and elsewhere, who understand the signs and symptoms of the virus and the clinical management of Covid-19 and how to treat it,” said health department spokesman Popo Maja.
His arrival comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that South Africa’s five-week national closure will be reduced. Starting May 1, there will be a gradual reopening of the economy.
He also said he had deployed more than 70,000 SANDF staff members to assist in the response to Covid-19. Ramaphosa said defense force assistance will not be limited to supporting the police in enforcing the closure regulations, but will include the provision of health services, infrastructure maintenance and water.
Earlier this month, the government said it had met with the Cuban ambassador to South Africa, Rodolfo Benítez, in March and that the Cubans had shown interest in providing assistance.
At the time of publication, there were 4,220 confirmed cases of Covid-19, 79 deaths, and 1,473 recoveries.
One of the country’s most worrying provinces is the Eastern Cape, where Health Minister Zweli Mkhize had to step in and send a team to help track, assess, and evaluate people, particularly in the Nelson Mandela Bay township. .
On Tuesday, the province’s figures rose to about 10% of the national infection figure, and Mkhize said more medical specialists, including epidemiologists, analysts and field consultants, should be deployed there. About 200 cases of Covid-19 have been linked to three funerals in that province, as people don’t comply with closing regulations and continue to gather in large numbers.
In Port Elizabeth alone, 160 cases have been reported as a result of two funerals, and the 40 cases in the coastal city of Port St Johns are also related to a funeral.
The arrival of Cubans in the country could help stop the spread of the virus, particularly in provinces where the number is increasing rapidly.
On Thursday night, Ramaphosa said there would be a smart shutdown, with provinces and regions going through different levels of measures depending on how Covid-19 is spreading. This could mean that some provinces are seeing a more severe blockade than their neighbors.
