Cuban medical personnel return from Italy

The first of almost a dozen Cuban medical teams deployed around the world to assist with the coronavirus pandemic returned to the island Monday, to cheers and applause from health authorities who lauded their efforts and pledged to continue sending medical aid abroad.

Some 36 doctors, 15 nurses and one administrator returned from the hard-hit Lombardy region of Italy, where they had been sent in March to help with one of the worst outbreaks of the virus in the world. A country where more than 30,000 people have died and tens of thousands more hospitalized.

Italy says the rate of infection has leveled off since the pandemic hit the country in March, and reports lowering numbers of patients afflicted with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and also that hospitalizations are also down. The improving numbers prompted the return of the Cuban medical team home, where the pandemic is also registering lowering numbers and fewer infections, although the island remains in lockdown, with no international flights or internal travel permitted.