RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The executive secretary of the Ministry of Health, João Gabbardo, said yesterday that Cuban doctors working on the ‘Mais Médicos’ (More Doctors) program will be called to help control the coronavirus pandemic. In an interview, he added that the summons will also be made to medical school students from sixth year and to retired doctors.
Gabbardo explained that the measure is intended to help replace part of the manpower lost during work, since doctors also become sick. A report released Sunday night by the Ministry of Health showed that Brazil has 200 official cases of the Covid-19.
“The concern with doctors is very relevant because they are very badly affected by the coronavirus. This happened in Italy, where 40 percent of the medical and nursing force is lost in the course of the illness, because they get sick. Even if their symptoms are mild, they must be isolated so as not to spread the disease on to their patients,” he said.