By Arleen Rodríguez Derivet, August 28, 2020
Foto: Ismael Francisco.
Who, who follows the essentials, can forget the fright we had that one bad day because of the only absence of Dr. Durán from the daily conference on COVID-19? It was a day of frightening numbers of infected people (74) and of alarming dispersion of the virus through almost all the municipalities of the capital. Even worse, from then on, provinces that considered themselves safe returned to the report.
Fortunately, Duran only had a temporary discomfort, the exhaustion of a voice never before forced to work so hard, interpreting data and answering questions behind a mask for long months. The other signs of that day were not so fleeting. The numbers have come to hover around 100 new cases, and as much as they are dropping, they have not returned to a single digit, much less the hoped for zero that lasted such a short a time.
I reference Dr. Duran not only for the scare of that morning. I was lucky enough to have him help me say goodbye to the last broadcast of the Red Zone, the program that Radio Rebelde aired on Monday and Friday nights for three months, to gather the testimonies of our health personnel who, inside and outside of Cuba, were risking their lives in the areas of greatest dangers of the virus. All of them returned to the country or to their homes healthy and satisfied that they had contributed something to the worldwide decline of the pandemic. Outside, the work of our brigades was gaining universal recognition. Inside, our Creole protocols had proven so effective that there were few serious admissions and none critical ones in hospitals.
The curve had flattened out below the mathematical forecasts and all the provinces, including Havana, were passing, euphorically, to the first phase. I remember how hope encouraged us all that day. Even so, the epidemiologist was conservative and made harsh comments about the first event -reported 24 hours before- that started the chain of several that are now are bringing us back to involuntary confinement. I asked Durán if our people, so well informed, were falling into those errors because of the trust in Cuban medicine and the days without deaths that we were accumulating. “It is a terrible paradox,” I said, “that having such a good health care system causes irresponsible attitudes”.
He replied laconically and directly: “It is a mistake. The COVID-19 kills. And when it doesn’t kill, it leaves sequels, some of them unknown, because we still know little about this disease”, the expert explained in his words.
It was then that we spoke of another type of damage; that fatigue suffered by health workers, who were on the front line of the epidemic for two weeks, and then locked up in a quarantine for another two weeks; that of the researchers, busy reading tens, hundreds of sheets, to identify those infected; that of the scientists, speeding up the time to obtain the vaccine, in days of more than 24 hours of tests and trials; that of so many people, far from their loved ones to serve those affected… We say goodbye to him wishing to meet him again soon walking on a beach, his greatest wish. He has not been able to do it.
Everyone, absolutely everyone I interviewed or who were interviewed by other colleagues, has given unprecedented evidence of their dedication. They literally kill each other to save the rest, in a beautiful competition for “who gives the most”, but… there is always a but. Or two. And more.
After almost six months at full speed, how much more can this rhythm of work be sustained under the pressure of a virus that learned to camouflage itself in asymptomatic patients? What obligation can the best people, the most willing to sacrifice, feel about those beneficiaries of their effort who have become infected by not making a thousandth part of their efforts? How long can an economy, already weakened by the intensification of the blockade, bear the weight of so many hospital expenses and quarantines?
I can’t think of turning this into a complaint, nor do I have anyone specifically to point at in a timely manner for the setbacks, the upsurge, or whatever it is that half the world has been suffering over the past few weeks. I only know that every peak of the epidemic coincides with what has been called events; that is, meetings, and gatherings, celebrations where basic guidelines of personal hygiene and physical and social detachment have been disrespected.
I reject criticism in the abstract. Personally, it hurts and bothers me to attend as a schoolgirl how much information or guidance is given about COVID-19 and to feel almost guilty for what I didn’t do because of the unnamed accusations. It is well known that in communication scolding does not work, because it is almost always received by the “well behaved”, who deserve it the least. I am almost certain, for example, that those who read this right now are among those.
At the same time, I do not think that those who violate elementary biosecurity measures are watching the morning conference meant to update us or are in the habit of checking our press. And if they do, it will not be to follow or respect the messages that the health authorities continually issue through all media. In short, I don’t think it makes sense to wear ourselves out with scolding directed at those who think they know who neither see nor hear and if they speak it is to spit out their ignorance (and perhaps the virus) to the rest. To those, a heavy fine and even prison if they circumvent rules and spread the epidemic.
It’s time to do it now, in the name of the heroines and heroes of these many months. That great part of the nation that we are, the one that learned to think and act in solidarity without expecting more reward than the national pride inflamed by the unquestionable successes of its most noble, intelligent, consecrated, creative children. Those who have not been able to step on a beach this summer, nor free themselves from the mask -which also bothers them, and they do not complain-, nor celebrate at family birthdays, graduations or any event that is kept in the memory of our best moments.
As for those who do not read, hear or see us; those who are not even interested in knowing about the wonderful story their little country is writing at the worst time for the planet, we have to look for a way to explain that Sovereign 01 does not heal. No vaccine saves infected people, however asymptomatic they may be, nor prevents sequels. Healthy people are vaccinated so that they do not get sick. To get to that needle prick, which will take months for most, requires care, even more so the closer we get to that day.
The terrible, the disturbing, the truly tragic thing would be for the irresponsible to take over the home stretch that separates us from that moment and prevent us from getting there. Those who have not slept during these months to take away our fear of death and to immunize an entire nation deserve to realize their dream.
Source: Cubadebate, translation Resumen Latinoamericano, North America bureau