More than 300 members of the Cuban Red Cross are participating in fight against COVID-19

After more than a year of taking part in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Red Cross subsidiary in this province has strengthened its protocols to continue carrying out its humanitarian work and keep its workers and volunteers safe.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- At this time, more than 300 members of the Cuban Red Cross are participating in some of the actions to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus here. Most, explained Michel Flaneguín Carralero, Chief of Operations, have stood out in health checkpoints, isolation centers, active inquiries, the delivery of food and medicine to vulnerable people, psychological support networks, or the procedures for the reestablishment of family contact and search. So far, he assured, "none of us have been infected with COVID-19." That, he stressed, "says a lot about how we have complied with all security measures despite being in risky places."

In all this time dealing with the new coronavirus pandemic, the specialist commented, "we have updated our protocols by expanding the use of the facemask. We are inserting these changes into the preparation we give to our rescue groups.”

The SARS-CoV-2 with its aftermath of disconnection and isolation between countries also increased the hustle and bustle of the Red Cross in one of its most sensitive services, its Office for Restoring Family Ties and Search. The pandemic increased the number of requests from people wishing to know the fate of their relatives outside the country and, above all, within Cuban borders, the specialist Yaditzi Cutiño González said. "Here we continue working together with colleagues from the Directorate of Identification, Immigration and Foreigners of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT)," she said.

"Citizens who need our advice or guidance in this regard can communicate through the phones 31333042 or 31333043," she reported.

She also said that they joined the psychological support networks to assist those who, prey to anxiety or other stressful situations, have requested assistance either through the helpline created by the Health System or from the posts of command for mental health that functioned during the most severe months of confinement.

In total, the group of volunteers and full-time experts of the Red Cross extends to more than 1,700 residents in this province, who are periodically trained to promptly respond to the occurrence of natural disasters, accidents, and other events that put in danger human life.