South Africa eager to welcome the “army in white gowns" from Cuba
- Cuban medical specialists will be landing in South Africa on Sunday night
- The 217 strong brigade will be deployed across the country to support efforts in fighting COVID-19
- The mayor of Ekurhuleni, Mzwandile Masina, is eager for the brigade to arrive
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Cuba is known for sending its top-class medical brigades to help other nations in crisis. A brigade is due to land at OR Tambo on Sunday night and South Africa welcomes the aid from the “army in white gowns".
217 Cuban healthcare professionals will arrive including physicians, epidemiologists, biostatists, healthcare technology engineers and biotechnology experts and other medical specialists.
Briefly.co.za learned that the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba in South Africa has explained that the specialists will be deployed in different provinces throughout the country in coordination with the South African Department of Health.
“These times require cooperation and solidarity. I we act together, the propagation of the virus [Covid-19] will be halted in a faster and more-effective manner. Twenty-one Cuban medical brigades with more than 1 200 health professionals are already deployed in 21 countires, assiting in the fight against the coronavirus.”
The South African government requested that Cuba aid them in the fight against COVID-19.
The Ekurhuleni executive mayor Mzwandile Masina is ecstatic that the Cubans will be landing soon according to the Kempton Express.
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In other news, Briefly.co.za reported on the Cuban delegation that was deployed to Italy, which was the epicentre of the outbreak in Europe at the time.
Cuba had mobilised a team of 52 doctors and nurses who will leave for Europe to help exhausted medical teams in Italy fight the covid-19 outbreak.
The Caribbean island is known for sending its medical teams out to help out in other parts of the world, teams have been sent for battle cholera in Haiti, Ebola in West Africa in the 2010's.
However, this is the first time that Cuba will send a team to one of the richest countries in the world. This is the 6th medical team Cuba has dispatched in the last few weeks, with previous teams heading out to its neighbours in Jamaica, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Suriname and Grenada.
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Source: Briefly News
