2024-07-15 00:46:41
Foto: Getty Images
Text: Cuba News 360 Editorial Team
Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was diagnosed with Covid-19 during a trip to Cuba, where he was to participate in the filming of a documentary by American filmmaker Oliver Stone.
Lula, 75, tested positive on December 26, five days after arriving in Cuba, according to an official statement released Thursday in Brazil. He underwent a CT scan, which identified lung lesions compatible with bronchopneumonia associated with Covid-19, but there was no need for hospitalization. Lula returned to Brazil on Wednesday, after a 30-day trip to Cuba.
Eight of the nine members of the delegation that accompanied him tested positive for Covid-19, including Lula’s wife Janja. Only writer Fernando Morais had to be hospitalized for 14 days due to lung complications caused by the disease. Journalist Nicole Briones was the only one who did not test positive. Lula’s publicist said that the former president had taken the PCR test before traveling and on the day of his arrival on the island, December 21, following the protocols for international travel. The infection, however, was only found when the tests were repeated.
An epidemiological investigation found that the virus was not contracted in Cuba, it was classified as an imported case. In a note, the press office reported that Lula was accompanied by Cuban doctors and by the infectious disease specialist, former Minister of Health and federal deputy Alexandre Padilha, who followed the evolution of the disease in daily contact with Cuban professionals. The former president’s recovery was considered “excellent” by “O Globo”. Due to the contagion, the filming of the documentary was suspended and the recordings will have to be made when sanitary conditions allow it.
According to the note, Lula’s only activity in Cuba, after being discharged, was a meeting with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel; the first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, Raúl Castro; the prime minister, Manuel Marrero; and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez. In the statement, the former president thanks Cuban health professionals. “(..) We feel the importance of a public health system that adopts a unified protocol, inspired by science and WHO guidelines. And I want to extend my greetings to all health professionals who strive to do the same here in Brazil, despite the irresponsibility of the President of the Republic and the Minister of Health,” the note says. Lula also says that his only certainty is that only vaccination can free humanity from the coronavirus and that he is prepared to be immunized as soon as Brazil has a vaccine for everyone.