Havana, Cuba.- The economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States against Cuba affects the access of the Caribbean island to medicines and materials to face the Covid-19, was reiterated today in this capital.

There are nearby markets that we cannot access due to the measures of that North American fence, said the director of Epidemiology of the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, Francisco Durán.

When asked by Prensa Latina, the doctor stressed that sometimes you get to places where supplies exist, and because it is Cuba and the siege of Washington, the response to requests is negative.

Nor, added Durán, does transportation appear to bring resources to our country, with 515 confirmed cases with Covid-19 so far.

However, with the spirit that characterizes Cubans, we do not hold back, and we look for medicines in places far away geographically because the main thing is to guarantee care, he stressed.

In this sense, Durán mentioned the importation of drugs and materials from China, France and Italy.

We do not stop at any time, the objective is to guarantee the resources for this stage (limited indigenous transmission of Covid-19) and when the situation becomes more complex, the doctor said.

He mentioned that due to obstacles from the United States, whose blockade against Cuba lasts almost 60 years, the largest of the Antilles has had to pay a higher price for medicines than usual.

Cuban authorities maintain that the US blockade violates the human rights of the people of the island, and almost the entire world is opposed to that policy of Washington.