Cuba sends medical brigade to support Bahamas' COVID-19 response

HAVANA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Cuba on Friday sent a team of 50 health professionals from the Henry Reeve Medical Contingent to the Bahamas, local media reported.

"It will contribute to reducing the COVID-19 infection rates in the Bahamas, which soared due to the Omicron variant," Deputy Minister of Public Health Regla Angulo was quoted as saying by Cuban state news agency ACN.

It is the first medical brigade the country has dispatched overseas this year to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, according to ACN.

Founded in 2005 by then Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro, the Henry Reeve Brigade was created to provide health services to Americans after Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. city of New Orleans, only to be refused by the George W. Bush administration.

Cuba has so far sent 57 medical teams from the Henry Reeve to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic in 40 countries around the world, said ACN.