The General Directorate of Health in the municipality of Mayarí, in the province of Holguín, has responded to a viral report regarding the alleged death of 14 people in a single day at the local hospital, under unclear circumstances and allegedly due to official cover-up.
In response to the growing public alarm, health authorities issued an official statement aimed at dismantling the version spread on social media and providing concrete data about the recorded fatalities.
The official version: Four confirmed deaths with specific medical causes
According to the note published by the Municipal Health Directorate, on February 3rd three deaths were reported of individuals over 75 years old -specifically 93, 90, and 85 years of age- all patients suffering from severe illnesses.
"With oncological conditions, two of them, and another patient with a case of acute respiratory failure," they specified.
The three passed away in the city of Holguín, where they had been transferred to receive specialized care, but they were subsequently taken to Mayarí, where they lived.
Additionally, it has been confirmed that the death -which occurred a day earlier- of a four-year-old girl was due to "acute myeloid leukemia," an aggressive form of hematological cancer.
The authorities expressed public condolences for all the deaths.
The statement also attempted to clarify the handling of funeral services, noting that "the Necrology service provides information including the 24-hour wake if it is the family's decision."
The complaint that raised the alarm
Although the official denial does not mention it directly, the alarm was raised by a post from independent journalist José Luis Tan Estrada, who alerted on his social media:
"Alarm in Mayarí, Holguín: 14 people died today and doctors do not know why."
Later, the journalist -who claimed to have sources within the hospital itself- expanded the complaint on , with a more detailed account.
According to Tan Estrada, 14 people reportedly died in a single day, including five cancer patients, a four-year-old girl with leukemia, seniors over 90 years old, and other cases recorded as deaths due to respiratory or cardiac causes.
“Today the Hospital of Mayarí, in Holguín, was the scene of a tragedy that the regime is trying to cover up with diagnoses it cannot prove,” he wrote.
The journalist stated that the death certificates contained diagnoses without technical support
"Fourteen people died in a single day [...], officially reported as acute respiratory failure and sudden cardiac death."
"These diagnoses were recorded directly in the death certificates, despite the fact that, according to specialized sources within the hospital itself, the minimum conditions to certify those causes do not exist," he added.
In particular, he denounced the complete lack of diagnostic resources:
“At the Mayarí Hospital, there are no resources even to perform a basic hemoglobin test. There are no supplies, no equipment, and there is no electrocardiogram available to confirm these cardiac causes.”
One of their sources within the hospital summarized the seriousness with a sarcastic question:
"How can 'sudden cardiac death' be written on a death certificate in a hospital that cannot perform an electrocardiogram? How can an electrocardiogram be done on someone who has already passed away?"
Tan Estrada went further, claiming that some deaths were a result of neglect and lack of medical attention.
“Several of the elderly did not die from cardiac or respiratory causes, but from cold, neglect, and a complete lack of medical attention,” he said; and accused the authorities of “falsifying the causes of death to hide the total collapse of the hospital.”
He also mentioned that a patient's son had to buy a seven-day course of antibiotics on the black market, paying 23,560 Cuban pesos, an amount that is unattainable for most people.
The patient passed away on the second day, before the treatment could even be completed.
Tan Estrada concluded her complaint with a broader accusation:
"It is not the first time this has happened. From this profile, we have repeatedly reported what occurs in this medical institution: systematic negligence, extreme shortage of resources, and entrenched corruption in the Municipal Directorate of Public Health in Mayarí, where administrative impunity results in abandoned patients and deaths that are later covered up with false diagnoses."
The journalist's complaint quickly went viral, leading to the official publication from the health department of Mayarí.
The need for clear and verified information
Despite the subsequent official denial, the incident has revealed a rift in public trust towards health and communication institutions in Cuba.
In an environment marked by a chronic scarcity of medical resources, institutional opacity, and fear of retaliation for speaking out publicly, it is challenging to clearly establish the boundaries between exaggeration and reality.
What is clear is that there is an information gap that needs to be addressed, and that the population has the right to transparent and verifiable answers at all times.
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