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Rubén Darío had been waiting for a sailing trip from Cuba to Germany for months to be part of a climate conference organized by the United Nations, but shortly after starting his tour he had to “turn back”.
The boat on which the climate activist was riding, along with other Latin American and European volunteers, had barely reached the Bermuda area when they were told that they were no longer able to advance due to the pandemic.
For the 23-year-old, it was the end (at least temporary) of a dream and the beginning of something much less pleasant.
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Upon returning to the Cuban city of Santa Clara, where he and his family reside, he discovered that he had been infected with coronavirus; He suspects he contracted the disease while returning to the island through the New York and Miami airports.
“I did self-isolation at home, but on the third day after I returned I had a slight fever and cough and I decided to go to the doctor. They transferred me to a monitoring center and after three days there they tested me and I tested positive,” says Rubén. Darío to BBC Mundo.
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Thus, on March 23, the young man became contagion 78 on the Caribbean island, but that was not all …
His father, mother, sister and grandfather also had to be isolated and declared under epidemiological surveillance.
Rubén Darío had spent months waiting for a sailing trip from Cuba to Germany to be part of a climate conference organized by the United Nations. Image Copyright: COURTESY OF RUBÉN DARÍO
To Rubén Darío’s relief, none of them was infected, but that did not prevent them from spending almost two weeks in a special isolation center, as is the case with thousands of other Cubans.
“I was very concerned about them, especially my grandfather, who is very old and has respiratory difficulties, but luckily the only one who caught it was me,” he adds.
Epidemiological surveillance
Until April 29, Cuba had 1,500 confirmed infections (about 800 active) and 61 deaths.
In addition, almost 3,000 people were placed under clinical epidemiological surveillance (as happened to the relatives of Rubén Darío) and another 6,900 were under observation in their homes.
That means that with 800 active cases, the island has almost 10.000 people in isolation to verify if they are infected and prevent them from spreading the virus.
During the first 45 days from the first confirmed contagion, Cuba performed 802 coronavirus tests on average per day.
This model of epidemiological surveillance is considered by entities such as the Pan American Health Organization as an aggressive strategy to curb the pandemic that shows favorable results.
However, voices also emerge from inside the island, indicating that, for example, the insulation in the homes of those suspected of contagion is not effective because some still go out on the street.
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Cuba not only adapted health centers to receive thousands of people who may carry the virus, but field hospitals were also installed in educational units, university buildings and other facilities throughout the island.
These units are reserved mainly for suspects who had contact with confirmed patients, while contagion cases are found in other clinical centers.
Despite the massive increase in hospital capacity, from Havana, where the largest number of patients is concentrated, reports have been reported of people who had to go to two or three isolation centers before being able to isolate themselves due to the lack of beds.
“Favorable scenario”
PAHO’s representative in Cuba, José MoyaHe is optimistic and believes that this surveillance model applied on the island can generate good results, although he is aware that victory cannot yet be claimed.
“According to the projections made, the curve (of contagion) in Cuba is in a favorable scenario, but that does not mean that the issue is already under control. A few more weeks of effort are needed to flatten the curve,” the expert tells BBC Mundo. .
Moya estimates that after that it is possible that other minor waves of infections will arise in which other measures must be implemented, in addition to addressing the problems that have already been detected such as crowds.
“The issue of the lines is happening in all countries and Cuba also has this situation where people have to go out to buy food. We have seen very well organized lines, but we have also seen cases in which more people are crowded and it is a priority issue that needs to be addressed, “concluded the WHO representative.
“Intersectoral plan”
Last Sunday, during the presentation of the official daily report on the national network, Francisco Durán García, Director of Epidemiology at the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap), responded to queries from BBC Mundo regarding this model applied on the island to combat covid-19.
“Our country, since January, prepared its coronavirus prevention and control plan when it was still a threat,” he said.
Durán affirmed that the Cuban strategy is “intersectoral” because it involves multiple sectors of the Cuban institutionality given that “this cannot be solved by the health system alone.”
Durán acknowledged, however, that they are not “totally satisfied”.
“We would like fewer cases, serious cases, critical cases and, above all, the deceased, but unquestionably all agencies were involved to achieve better results,” Durán concluded.
Isolation
Rubén Darío spent his illness in a room with divisions where two other people were.
“There was an old lady of about 91 years old who was in front of my cubicle, she was weak and she was hardly feeding, eventually she passed away,” he says.
The Villa Clara relates that seeing her like this affected him greatly and that he began to reflect on “the loneliness through which patients who do not overcome the disease and die alone go through”.
His mood was greatly affected by that reality and the impossibility of receiving visitors.
He only had his cell phone and readings at his disposal to spend the day amid the muscle aches and nausea caused by the disease.
Ruben Darío had to spend almost two weeks in a special isolation center. Image Copyright: COURTESY OF RUBÉN DARÍO
Among the music and podcasts he listened to on his mobile phone, in addition to the two books that led to his isolation, more than a month after that dreamy failed trip to Germany, Rubén Darío recovered and returned to his family.
Drugs and investigations
Three medications are used in Cuba once a contagion is confirmed: the antiretroviral Kaletra, the immunomodulator known as chloriquine and the Interferon Alpha 2b, which is an antiviral made with Cuban technology.
Since the appearance of the first cases of covid-19 on the island, the Minsap has highlighted that the inclusion of Interferon Alpha 2b in treatment protocols shows positive results.
This drug, according to the AFP agency published in mid-March, is produced in Cuba and China by a company from both countries, although the efficiency of its use in patients with covid-19 is still being investigated.
The WHO, in a newsletter published on April 10, noted that “at the moment, no specific medication is recommended to prevent or treat infection with the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV).”
In addition to isolates and drugs, there are brigades of medical and dental students than They have been walking the streets of the island for weeks with the aim of finding new possible infections.
Are the calls “house-to-house inquiries”, which are strengthened with an application for mobile phones called the Virtual Investigator, from which a Cuban with internet access can report that he presents symptoms of contagion.
Monica Baró, a journalist from Havana, tells BBC Mundo that a medical student passes by her house every day to ask if “everything is fine”, although she indicates that she knows places where the search is not so systematic or serious.
Prevengho-Vir is applied in drops under the tongue for three days in a row. Image Copyright: GETTY IMAGES
But in addition to the student’s daily consultation, Mónica adds that she received a medication that she preferred not to take: Prevengho-Vir.
It is a homeopathic medicine that is applied in drops under the tongue for three days in a row and that was initially distributed in homes of older adults and health centers, but that has already reached different sectors of Cuba.
“I am not taking it because, from what I have read, it is homeopathy and I do not believe in what can help me. I believe that it is not a medication and it is not an effective treatment,” says Baró.
On the streets
The Cuban government recognizes that the pandemic will represent a blow to the island’s economy, although it insists that the embargo imposed by the United States is the main obstacle to its development.
Different multilateral organizations, such as the World Bank, estimate that the impact of the coronavirus on economic growth throughout the region will be significant and there are already signs on the island.
Mariana * is a Havana self-employed account who lost absolutely all her clients.
He started by renting a room in his house in Old Havana, but then managed to expand his offer for tourists by connecting them with drivers, rooms and restaurants in the main tourist destinations that Cuba offers.
She was, in her own way, a very efficient tour operator and valued by those who came to her services.
A brigade of soldiers goes out to disinfect the streets of Havana. Image Copyright: GETTY IMAGES
Between March 20 and April 1, the island closed its borders and managed the departure of tens of thousands of tourists who were there at the time.
“Nothing is moving and it is just this moment in which we need currency (money that comes from tourism) for purchases,” the woman tells BBC Mundo.
He adds that obtaining food “was already difficult” in recent years and that the pandemic further complicated that situation.
70% of adult Cubans work for the State and have not stopped receiving income (Cuba has one of the lowest minimum wages in the region).
However, according to estimates, at least 500,000 people are self-employed or entrepreneurs, among which many now suffer from the freezing of different activities on the island.
Since mid-March, Cuba suspended massive events such as concerts and then closed schools and universities due to the coronavirus.
It also closed public transportation and banned inter-provincial travel.
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Thus, little by little, all Cubans were affected, according to Mónica Baró.
“Since March 23, when the strictest measures were implemented in the country, people’s lives have been dramatically transformed,” he says.
The journalist, like Mariana, first points to the problem of scarcity.
“In order to acquire the supplies, food and what you need, you have to queue much longer than you did before the pandemic”, indicates.
Baró explains that since the outlets are restricted and the quantity of products that can be purchased are regulated, a “very high level of stress and disorder” is generated in various cities of the country.
Difficulties in acquiring basic necessities have been reported from different parts of Cuba.
To buy food, you have to queue much longer than you did before the pandemic, according to a Cuban journalist. Image Copyright: GETTY IMAGES
Baró points out that there are also many complaints of excessive use of force.
“We find daily that there is an abuse of power by the police”, indicates.
Baró relates that she herself was threatened by a police officer for taking a photo from the window of her house to a crowd in a market.
The journalist concludes that arbitrariness and arrests in the midst of this situation are not isolated cases.
Again rationing
The difficulty in obtaining food, hygiene products and basic necessities are not the only problem on the island and this is reflected in the Cuban official newspaper. Granma, which on April 24 reported a worrying increase in the consumption of electrical energy.
Current consumption levels exceed generation capacities, according to the state media, which included in its report a request from the commander of the Revolution and deputy prime minister Ramiro Valdes to save electricity and water.
A call that sounds like an echo from the not too distant past and repeated several times.
Scarcity and rationing are not something new for Cuba, where the requests for sacrifice and restriction also sound very familiar, now not only heard on the island, but in many other countries.
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It is as if Cubans have been preparing for this juncture for decades, but the pandemic has proven to be as irrevocable on this island as on almost the rest of the planet.
And it can be pointed out as novel that this time imperialism yankee do not be singled out as the main culprit for current precariousness.
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