Interview: Cuba, China boost scientific exchange amid global pandemic response, says official

HAVANA -- Cuba and China have strengthened scientific exchange and collaboration amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior Cuban official has said.

"In this regard, some laboratories set up across the island for testing COVID-19 samples are equipped with Chinese technologies," Francisco Duran, national director of hygiene and epidemiology at the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, told Xinhua in an interview.

In addition, the two countries have sent medical teams abroad to help combat the virus under the World Health Organization guidelines, said Duran days after the island marked the first anniversary of detecting its first COVID-19 case.

Since Cuba's COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, the Chinese government, people and social organizations have been helping the Caribbean nation in its fight against the pandemic.

He said that China has provided Cuba with medical supplies and resources, meeting the high demand caused by the coronavirus crisis.

"China has the capacity to keep the pandemic at bay," he said, noting that Chinese people have abided by their quarantine measures.

Duran said that Cuban and Chinese peoples are united by "strong cultural and historical links" forged in a bilateral relationship that has stood the test of time.