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The new health crisis hitting Havana has sparked a wave of public outrage both within and outside of Cuba, which was reflected in the comments on a post on by CiberCuba.
The news of the imminent partial closure of the “Salvador Allende” Clinical Surgical Hospital, known as La Covadonga, due to the outbreak of dengue and chikungunya in the capital, triggered a flood of reactions on social media that reflect desperation, helplessness, and a growing loss of confidence in the Cuban healthcare system.
While health authorities assess emergency measures to contain the outbreak, Cubans are asking with bitter irony: “And when will Cuba close?”. The phrase, repeated in dozens of comments, summed up the widespread sentiment of a country that feels everything is collapsing, from hospitals to hope.
"God put His hand over this country."
The anguish and faith intertwined in hundreds of messages. "My God, Lord, act with a miracle and save this country", wrote one internet user, while another pleaded: "May the Lord cover us with His powerful hand, Cuba is suffering too much".
Religiosity has become a refuge for thousands of Cubans who, faced with the collapse of healthcare, place more trust in prayer than in institutions.
The messages were repetitive: "Cuba is dying", "This is scary", "We are on the brink of collapse". From municipalities like Cerro, Arroyo Naranjo, and Playa—where the highest infection outbreaks are reported—the complaints pointed to a complete neglect of public hygiene, with overflowing garbage bins, water leaks, and streets infested with mosquitoes.
A resident of Havana commented that in her neighborhood "there are six sick people at home and no one has come to fumigate." Others stated that "even the EJT doesn't come with abate." and that an effective fumigation campaign has not been conducted in over six years.
"They build hotels but don't buy insecticides."
The outrage was also directed at the government. "Unfortunately, it is already too late. They build hotels but do not buy products for fumigation", expressed another user, in a comment that was echoed in various forms: "Indifference and neglect have flooded the country with epidemics", "So many meetings for nothing", "This is the result of negligence".
Many recalled that La Covadonga has been repeatedly used as an isolation hospital during COVID-19 and other previous outbreaks. "It's already used to closing," an internet user quipped. Another summarized the collective sentiment with a pithy phrase: "The medical power is in intensive care."
The harshest criticisms accused the regime of prioritizing propaganda over health. "They continue to build majestic hotels, but they are empty. Meanwhile, the hospitals are in ruins, lacking medication and hygiene. What medical power are they talking about?", questioned a resident of Havana, while another user pointed out that "even Cienfuegos, the Pearl of the South, has turned into a garbage dump."
Between faith and rage
In the comments, there are also those who mixed hope with anger. "God protect us, but let those who have the people dying in misery leave", is read in dozens of posts. The phrase "may it take away all the bad" was repeated like a desperate prayer, accompanied by tears, emoticons, and pleas.
Some, like former patients of the hospital, relived traumatic experiences: “I was admitted to La Covadonga during the COVID-19 pandemic and I don't even want to remember it. It was like living in a horror movie.”
Others reported the collapse of the medical system: “My husband was hospitalized there, there were no supplies, no medications, no cleaning. It’s degrading”. “We are self-medicating with the little we can find in the ‘candonga’”, confessed a user from Havana.
"There is no oil for fumigation."
The lack of hygiene and medication is compounded by another chronic shortage: fuel. “There is no oil, that's why they don't spray”, several comments explained, while others insisted on returning to old methods: “They should use animal power if necessary, but they should collect the trash and spray”.
The residents of Havana requested urgent fumigation, systematic garbage collection, and the distribution of basic medications such as paracetamol, dipyrone, and rehydration salts. "The virus is wreaking havoc, fumigate day and night!", users cried out from various neighborhoods.
A neighbor from Cerro warned: “My entire block is sick, including the children. No one has come to check on us. There are no medications or ambulances.”
"This is not politics, it's life."
The magnitude of the outbreak led many to question the lack of international support. “Where is the World Health Organization? Why aren’t they helping this people who are dying in misery?”, a commentator wondered.
Others insisted that diseases do not understand ideology: “Pandemics are not political; they are diseases that cost lives”.
The call for help multiplied: "We need urgent humanitarian assistance", "Teams need to come, products for fumigation, medications". One comment summarized it harshly: "Cuba needs help or it will be left empty from so many dead".
"This is genocide."
Among the strongest complaints, several people described the situation as a “health genocide.” “For not collecting the trash or fumigating. Due to their negligence and incompetence. Public health in Cuba is a disaster. #SOSCuba”, wrote a woman from the eastern part of the country.
The tone of desperation mixed with contained anger: “We are dying among garbage, hunger, and mosquitoes. Nobody listens to us”, “This has no limits anymore; every day there are more diseases and more deaths”.
Others summarized it with bitter irony: “We are playing ‘Squid Game’, surviving every second. The next level is dengue.”
"Cuba is sinking."
Amidst prayers, insults, and requests for fumigation, a consensus emerged: the health crisis mirrors the overall collapse of the country. “Havana is not the only one, the whole of Cuba is sick”, stated a comment that garnered dozens of reactions.
A user summarized it bluntly: “The greatest pandemic that Cuba has suffered for decades is communism”.
The discomfort was not limited to the patients: doctors and nurses also experience shortages and exhaustion. "I wish the doctors would step up as they did during COVID, but the country is not in a position for another crisis," warned a former hospital worker.
"And when does Cuba close?"
The phrase that titles this note turned into a collective cry. Some said it with irony; others, with genuine terror.
Because, while La Covadonga gets ready to close its facilities and once again become a quarantine hospital, Cubans feel that the entire country is already partially shut down: without medicine, without hygiene, without energy, and without hope.
Among the appeals to God and the demands to the government, a truth resonated that no one can deny: Cuba is experiencing another health emergency, and this time, more than a virus, the country is facing its own moral and structural collapse.
“In the past, we used to fumigate from the air, and the streets smelled of cleanliness. Today, all we smell is trash and hopelessness. God protect us all,” wrote a woman from Cerro.
And in that sentence, today's Cuba is summarized: a tired, sick people on the verge of losing hope, who can only bitterly ask: “When does Cuba close?”
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