It is about the death of two professors and an equal number of students that have shocked the university community in the east of the country.
LIMA, Peru – The Universidad de Oriente reported this weekend via Facebook about the death of two of its members: a young professor and a student. In this way, there are now four deaths at the school reported in one week.
The institution, based in the province of Santiago de Cuba, mourned the day before the death of Mr. Raudel de Armas Louis, a young graduate and professor of the Department of Biology.
According to the publication, Armas Louis was hospitalized and unfortunately died in the early hours of November 7 for reasons that were not detailed.
The University also reported the death of Beatriz Carmenaty Corona, a second-year student of Sociocultural Management for Development, Encounter Course.
The note indicates that the young student suffered from a painful illness and cardiovascular complications resulted in her “sad outcome.”
“The university community is shocked by these events and extends its heartfelt condolences to their family, friends, colleagues, and relatives,” the higher education center stressed.
These deaths add up to two other deaths reported this week by the Universidad de Oriente that have left a stir in the university community of the region. They are veteran professor Pedro Antonio Rodríguez Fernández, from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Agronomy, and student Luis Enrique Vicet Castellanos, from Mechanical Engineering.
Rodríguez Fernández, a resident of the Palma Soriano municipality, was the victim of a heart attack associated with underlying illnesses he suffered from, according to an official statement.
The recent deaths at the academic institution come in the midst of a national context of health and epidemiological crisis that increase the unrest in the eastern population, also affected by the passage of Hurricane Melissa at the end of October.
Epidemiological crisis in Cuba
The Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) recognized that the country has treated 20,062 cases of chikungunya, a figure that shows the sustained expansion of this disease transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The information was offered by the Vice Minister of Health, Carilda Peña García, in her regular space on the Caribbean Channel.
According to official data, the most affected provinces are Havana, Matanzas, Camagüey, Cienfuegos, Artemisa and Villa Clara. In addition, 62% of mosquito outbreaks are concentrated in Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Camagüey and Villa Clara.
The MINSAP announced the deployment of intensive fumigations and the active search for people with fever through Medical Sciences students. He also reported that clinical trials will begin in the province of Matanzas with the drug Jusvinza to treat persistent joint sequelae in patients with chikungunya.
However, the opinions and claims of the population contrast with the institutional discourse. In cities such as Santiago de Cuba and Havana, residents have reported that fumigation is not carried out systematically, and in some neighborhoods it has become a service that is only provided through informal payments, despite being a state obligation. Likewise, residents report shortages of basic medications, long lines at polyclinics and hospitals, and entire families affected at the same time by severe fever symptoms.
