SANTA CLARA.— I have no words to express my gratitude to Cuba, which has trained such humane, professional doctors, nurses and specialists, thanks to them I have come back to life,” said Jesús Álvarez López, the first Cuban Covid-19 patient to be released from the hospital.

The 25-year-old dancer, who lives in this city, told Granma that at present he is evolving very favorably, with regular follow-up from his family doctor, who comes to see how he is doing every day, takes his temperature and checks other vital signs, as indicated in protocols established for such cases.

Recounting his story, he told us that his spouse Anel González Zurita, a Bolivian citizen living in the city of Milan, in the Italian province of Lombardy, arrived in Cuba without any apparent symptoms, but a few days later, began to experience respiratory problems, as he did. They went directly to a public health facility, and were immediately admitted to the Villa Clara isolation hospital, to be later transferred to the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK) in Havana, where their illness was confirmed.
“Imagine how I suffered at that moment; the world came down on me. I was afraid, I thought the worst. I thought of my family, my little girl Ana Sofía, who is only a year old. But I had the strength to endure the storm, because I knew about the quality of Cuban medicine,” Alvarez continued.

Referring to the treatment he received, he has only words of praise for the doctors and staff at the Manuel Piti Fajardo Hospital in Villa Clara and the IPK, saying he is truly grateful, that these professional made sure he never felt alone during those days of isolation. “They were my parents, my brothers, my friends,” the young man said with emotion.

“I never lacked anything there, no medicine, no resources of any kind, and they even spoiled me a bit. Whenever I was hungry, it didn’t matter if it was two in the morning, they would bring me yogurt or some kind of food. If I wanted to talk with my family, they arranged a telephone conversation. I was happy with everything,” he said, and before saying goodbye, asked to send a message to the Cuban people, thanking them for all the love they have shown him, during these hard times.

“I am worried, because I still see people on the street, not showing the necessary awareness of the present situation. I would tell them to be careful, that this can hit anyone. The government’s guidelines must be heeded; they are working very hard to avoid the worst. If we take all the measures, we will get out of this, because we are a people who fight, no one should doubt it, we will win.”