Cuba sends medics to Qatar to help fight coronavirus

Qatar has become the latest country to receive Cuban medical workers to help tackle Covid-19.

1 min read

18 April, 2020

Cuban medical staff stage a farewell ceremony before a Covid-19 mission in Andorra [Getty]

Qatar on Wednesday became the latest country to welcome medics from Cuba to help out with the Covid-19 crisis.

"A brigade of Cuban health professionals arrived in Qatar to support the fight against COVID-19," Cuba's Health Ministry announced in a statement.

The ministry said that the doctors and nurses would begin their work after a short period of quarantine.

Dr Abdullatif Al Khal, the co-president of the national pandemic response team, praised the "excellent" doctors from "friendly" Cuba, which had sent the medical staff at Qatar's request.

The tiny Gulf nation has confirmed 5,008 cases of the virus, but registered just eight fatalities so far.

Meanwhile, Cuba has 923 confirmed cases and 31 deaths.

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Despite being among the world's poorest countries, the Caribbean nation boasts a leading healthcare system.

The island country has long been known for its medical internationalism, also dubbed "doctor diplomacy", and sends more medical staff to the developing world than all the G8 countries combined.

So far, it has dispatched medical staff to some of the countries worst hit by Covid-19, including China and Italy, as well as nearby Haiti, Barbados, Venezuela and Suriname.

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