Physician from central Cuba engaged in commendable fight against COVID-19

CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, Mar 1 (ACN) Active screenings at community level, reviews of each suspected case and focus controls are among the tasks assigned to Dr. Jorge Enrique Rodríguez León since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Cuba almost a year ago.

As director of the Hygiene and Epidemiology Unit (UMHE) in the municipality of Abreus, he is in charge of daily case-finding efforts and the provision of clinical care to more than 30,760 inhabitants.

“It is a difficult job, given the large number of possible infected people to study. I have to work until late at night as I prepare the steps for the next day or arrange the transfer of patients to isolation centers,” he told ACN. “The epidemic has changed everyone's personal and work habits and, above all, family life. My wife is also a doctor and we have a child. This is about long sleepless hours and answering endless phone calls even after arriving home.”

As the head of the UMHE, Jorge Enrique is always attentive to any situation and knows that the army of white coats is the guardian of the people's health, the reason that he walks around telling people to wear masks and respect social distancing.

He earned the "16 de Abril" medal—the highest commendation awarded by the Cuban medical mission in Venezuela—thanks to his performance for four and a half years as coordinator of an Integral Diagnostic Center from 2013 to 2017, an experience that prepared him to deal with ailments never found in Cuba and develop his managing skills.

“It was a challenge. What I knew about hygiene and epidemiology I learned in my fifth-year studies," he confessed. “I feel good here. We are a tight team in which everyone has the same goal: to give health to the population," he said.