Dr Francisco Durán admitted on Cuban Television that this is a “fairly high figure” that “reflects the complexity of the disease”
14ymedio, Havana, 21 November 2025 — In just one day, from Wednesday to Thursday, the number of patients in intensive care units due to chikungunya rose by 21 in Cuba. In total, there are now 81 cases, of which 61 are in serious condition and 20 are in critical condition. Of these, 48 are minors. In the same 24 hours, 4,708 patients with “non-specific fever syndrome” were also registered, which is how they enter the system, said Dr Francisco Durán García, director of epidemiology at the Ministry of Public Health, in a programme launched two days ago on Cuban television to report on the serious health situation facing the island.
The Cuban Ministry of Public Health reported on Friday that 6,597 new cases of patients with feverish symptoms were registered the previous day, in addition to confirming 847 cases of dengue and 753 cases of chikungunya in a single day. For his part, Durán explained in his television appearance today that chikungunya, the main disease affecting the country, now has a cumulative total of 31,513 cases, including confirmed and suspected cases.
On Thursday, the official released the total figures for the first time, which were very worrying. Currently, there are 47,125 patients bedridden with arbovirus, most of them in their own homes, he said. This is, he said, a “fairly high figure” that “reflects the complexity of the disease”.
On Wednesday, Durán said, 620 new suspected cases were reported. “In just one day,” he emphasised. “You see how bad it is”. This, he went on, “without taking into account a significant number of patients who do not go to see the doctor.” There are 2,216 patients in hospital with this arbovirus.
This Wednesday, 107 cases of dengue fever were diagnosed in different provinces, bringing the total to 2,098.
As for dengue fever, the situation continues to get worse. On Wednesday, 107 cases of dengue fever were diagnosed in different provinces, bringing the total to 2,098. Regarding this disease, Durán said that “although it does not cause symptoms as severe as chikungunya – I say severe because of the discomfort it causes in people – it is very risky because it tends to become complicated at a certain point, and if the person does not have something as simple as hydration, they can die.”
Dr. Durán emphasised that people should see a doctor if they have a “persistent fever” or appear “dehydrated”. “In that case, you really need to do that quickly,” he warned.
He also spoke at length about the continuing “high infestation of the Aedes aegypti mosquito”, which is linked to “the rain that has fallen and is still falling” and “the piles of rubbish around here”. He warned: “While fumigation is important, sanitation is also important”.
Also on Thursday, what he did not talk about was people dying. On social media, however, they are increasingly reported. A few days ago, Cuban writer José Félix León, who lives in Barcelona, Spain, reported the death of a cousin in the Pinar del Río hospital due to COVID-19. “The ICU at that hospital is not big enough for the number of patients there, but those in power insist that there is no COVID in Pinar del Río,” he said. “Cuba is in a situation unlike anything it has ever experienced in its recent history. The diseases transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito are killing and incapacitating people, and the government of El Fatso is not declaring a state of emergency.”
“How long are they going to keep denying reality?” says a driver from Holguín who for weeks has been transporting relatives of those who died from a virus. At the Mayabe cemetery, he says, “they confiscated a young woman’s phone for taking pictures showing the number of burials and coffins that came in a single day.” State Security was guarding the cemetery.
The document, published just three days ago, confirms that the first outbreak of this arbovirus occurred last July in Perico (Matanzas)
As this newspaper has confirmed, simple visits to funeral homes and cemeteries demonstrate that activity there is higher these days. So much so, that, at least in Havana, they are using vehicles from the telecommunications company Etecsa as hearses.
The space Dr. Durán now occupies—similar to what he had during the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago—reveals the extent of the regime’s concern, which ignored the situation for months. The Ministry of Health ‘s brand-new “management and research protocol for patients with chikungunya” reveals the degree to which this concern is exposed.
The document, published just three days ago, confirms that the first outbreak of this arbovirus occurred last July in Perico (Matanzas), and from there it spread throughout the island. In September, when infections from an unidentified virus had multiplied, local health authorities simply reprimanded the alarmed population. “There is no mysterious disease in Cárdenas,” declared Andrés Lamas Acevedo, director of the Matanzas Provincial Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology, at the time.
The epidemiological alert in that territory was of little use : the arbovirus had already escaped.
The protocol provides detailed information on the symptoms, stages of the disease, and risks for children, pregnant women, and those with other conditions, including co-infection with dengue or COVID-19. It also recommends medications to relieve fever and pain, such as paracetamol or metamizole, and, if these are ineffective, opioids, while avoiding aspirin and steroids.
“While chikungunya has a low mortality rate and is therefore generally considered non-fatal, deaths frequently occur in cases with comorbidities or with rarer but more severe symptoms of the disease,” the text warns. “Death is primarily due to pre-existing health problems or severe clinical manifestations in the elderly, infants, or immunocompromised patients.”
In the final pages of the protocol, the use of “natural and traditional medicine” is recommended. These, they indicate, “based on an integrative model of care, can be combined with the rest of the preventive measures and conventional treatment” and include herbal medicine, homeopathy, acupuncture or “related techniques” and ozone therapy, all of which lack any scientific basis.
Added to this is the sudden start in the production of natural repellent made with extracts of neem and caña santa [lemongrass], as reported by Venceremos, by the Medilip Oral Liquids Pharmaceutical Laboratory Company in Guantánamo, even though this type of mosquito repellent is not effective against the persistent Aedes aegypti.
The lack of medicine, on the other hand, means that Cubans don’t need this “encouragement” from the government to seek alternative remedies . Also in Holguín, a vendor recounts that, faced with the spread of chikungunya and the resulting limitations in movement and fatigue, “people are resorting to energy drinks to stay afloat.” The result, this small business owner assures, is that sales of these “anti-zombie products” have skyrocketed.
Meanwhile, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently issued a travel alert for the island, following a similar one issued two months ago by the U.S. State Department, due to the “worsening health situation resulting from the spread of arboviruses.” The anticipated decline in tourism, coupled with recent economic measures against foreign companies , whose accounts have been frozen, threatens to create an apocalyptic situation in Cuba.
Translated by GH
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