Unheeded warnings? NO!

Cuba has lived through plenty of experiences after more than 430 days of fight against COVID-19, among them the insisting alerts to a virus turned into a global problem and a lethal scourge that spares no one and requires a tenacious process of organization, efficiency and discipline.
The warnings of the danger cannot fall on deaf ears; everybody must pay attention to them and act accordingly.

Taking care remains the watchword, even though more than 1,100,000 Cubans have already received at least one dose of the Cuban vaccine candidates. This figure includes pilot and intervention studies and the current inoculation campaign expected to reduce the number of sick and dead people and tackle transmission. This strategy comes with benefits, as it boosts the number of anti-virus antibodies and prevents people who get infected from ending up in a serious condition.

This huge effort also entails the use of substantial resources. Minister of Economy and Planning Alejandro Gil Fernandez recently reported that the expenses imposed by the fight against the pandemic amount to 300 million dollars and around two billion pesos so far.

In such a harsh context, of course, the immovable and criminal U.S. blockade, which continues to make life more difficult for Cubans in the midst of this health crisis, becomes all the more outstanding.

In addition to the willingness to get the candidates Abdala or Sovereign 02, we must keep abiding by all health protocols, because by taking care of our life we are also taking care of the lives of others.

The sanitary intervention must go hand in hand with the mandatory use of face masks, physical distancing, hand hygiene, and special precautions with children and the elderly.

April set new and very unfortunate records and May—not yet finished—already seems to be the worst month since the virus entered Cuba in March 2020.

With a critical eye, the authorities have identified organizational and subjective problems and made emphasis on people’s low risk perception and excessive mobility. They have also warned of new and more deadly strains, as well as of the non-compliance with the sanitary protocols and measures approved as part of the national plan for the ongoing period and the poor level of demand on the part of agencies and institutions.

The provinces of Habana, Santiago de Cuba and Matanzas are the worst hit while the mathematical forecasting models continue to announce unfavorable COVID-19 scenarios in the country, with more people of all ages infected and a higher death toll, already neighboring the 900 mark.
Therefore, there are plenty of reasons to take heed of the warnings and learn how to proceed and protect ourselves from this silent enemy.