Ebola-free, Cuban medic is back in Havana
Dr. Félix Báez Sarria, the first Cuban medic struck by Ebola while on a mercy mission in Africa, returned to Havana on Saturday [Dec. 6] disease-free, after being cleared by Switzerland’s Geneva University Hospital to return to his homeland, following successful treatment with an experimental drug.
Báez arrived at José Martí International Airport at 6:10 p.m., the newspaper Granma reported. There, he was welcomed by the minister of Public Health, Roberto Morales Ojeda; the first deputy minister, José Ángel Portal Miranda, and deputy minister Marcia Cobas.
Also present was the director of the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine, Jorge Pérez, “while [Báez’s] relatives waited anxiously in an airport lounge,” Granma reported.
[For background on this story in Progreso Weekly, click here and here.]
Báez, 43, contracted the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone and was flown to Geneva for treatment on Nov. 21. (Photo above.) At the University Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, he was kept in a special room and treated with Z-Mapp, an experimental drug, for 16 days.
Báez was cared for round-the-clock by five medical specialists, the Zeitung said. Doctors, nurses and orderlies wore protective suits at all times to eliminate any risk of infection, and one person monitored constantly the wearing and removal of those suits.
About 20 nurses from other departments spontaneously volunteered to help in the ICU, a gesture that drew expressions of thanks from Báez.
The patient’s health improved day by day. Analyses of Báez’s blood and bodily fluids made over the past week by highly specialized laboratories and checked repeatedly this week indicated that the patient was healed and could leave the hospital.
“The people of Geneva were at no time exposed to the risk of transmission” of the disease, said Dr. Jacques-André Romand, Geneva’s chief medical officer.
The following note was released Saturday by the Cuban Ministry of Public Health:
“As we have informed our people, the condition of Dr. Félix Báez Sarria, member of the Brigade of the Henry Reeve International Contingent, who contracted the Ebola virus while performing his mission in Sierra Leone, has evolved satisfactorily.
“The authorities at the Geneva University Hospital, where he has received the best treatment, ratified that the tests conducted confirm the disappearance of the virus from his bodily fluids and therefore he will be released soon. When that happens, Dr. Félix Báez Sarria will return to Cuba.
“The Ministry of Public Health reiterates its thanks to the World Health Organization, to the governments of Sierra Leone and Switzerland, to the health workers who took part in his care in both countries, to the Cuban diplomatic personnel in Geneva, and to the millions of women and men who, in Cuba and abroad, expressed their solidarity and wished our compatriot a prompt recovery.”
[In photo above, taken at the airport in Havana, Báez is accompanied by his wife, Vania Ferré, and son, Félix Alejandro. Photo: Ismael Francisco/ Cubadebate]
