Cuban medical brigade that saved lives in Italy arrives home!

The first Cuban medical brigade of the Henry Reeve Contingent which served for two months in northern Italy has returned victorious to Havana.  They arrived Monday evening at 6:50 p.m. at the Jose Marti International Airport after a nearly 10-hour flight from Milan-Rome.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel received the returning medical brigade that served in Italy for two months.  Upon their arrival at the Jose Marti International Airport, the 36 doctors and 15 nurses that saved lives in northern Italy were welcomed home as heros.

The Cuban president addressed the returning medical professionals by a video-link -- a special transmission from the Palacio Presidencial at the Plaza de la Revolucion.  Miguel Diaz-Canel said: "With your noble gesture, you have shown the world a truth that Cuba's enemies have tried to silence, the strength of Cuban medicine."

The Cuban brigade left from the Italian city of Milan, where they were seen off by representatives of the Lombardy Region, flying to Rome, the Italian capital.  In Rome, they were seen off by the Cuban Ambassador to Italy and other diplomats from the Cuban Embassy, as well as the solidarity movement and the Cubans living in that nation.

The 36 doctors and 15 nurses who make up the brigade, during the two months of humanitarian work in the city of Crema, served with great professional rigor and personal dedication.

According to local media reports, all of the Cuban medical personnel are returning with the satisfaction of "mission accomplished" and the recognition of the Italian authorities and population in general, especially from the Italian region of Lombardy.

As recently reported by the Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, Cuba has sent 34 medical brigades of the Henry Reeve Contingent to 27 countries, at the request of authorities from those nations.

These medical brigades have so far attended to more than 61,000 patients infected with SARS-Cov2, in addition to the more than 35,000 people who have received the services of another 59 brigades working abroad before the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March.