Cuban health officials arrive in South Africa to help fight coronavirus

Cuban health officials arrive in South Africa to help fight coronavirus

The office of South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, said more than 200 Cuban health workers arrived in the country to help fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the presidential statement, a total of 217 medics, comprising doctors, scientists, and health experts, were to be dispatched across all provinces of South Africa.

President Ramaphosa had asked his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel to intervene and assist with the pandemic.

According to the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, South Africa remains the hardest-hit country by coronavirus with over 4,500 confirmed cases.

For years, Cuba has sent thousands of doctors abroad to help with health crises, such as the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

This year its doctors have already helped out in Italy, the European country hit hardest by the coronavirus. Government-employed Cuban doctors and health workers are currently at work in around 60 countries.

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