Cuba has sent 216 doctors to South Africa to assist in efforts against the coronavirus pandemic.
The medics, that arrived in South Africa in early Monday morning, are set to be deployed in different provinces of the country, the Cuban embassy said.
South Africa had sent medical supplies to Cuba to help combat COVID-19 in the same plane used to transport the Cuban doctors.
Cuba has so far sent medical brigades with more than 1,200 health professionals to 22 countries worldwide to support the efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic.
“These are times of solidarity and cooperation. If we act together, we can halt the spread of coronavirus in a faster and more cost effective manner,” Cuba’s ambassador to South Africa, Rodolfo Benítez Verson, said in a statement.
South Africa, that has so far recorded 4,546 coronavirus cases and 87 deaths, has almost one doctor for every 1,000 people, World Bank data shows.
According to the same data, Cuba has about eight doctors per 1000 population, one of the world’s highest number of physicians per capita. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country stands at 1,369, with 54 recorded fatalities.
