“The girl was infected through me; it is very sad to go through that and the pain is not measurable. These are the words of Mailé Yicel Báez Ferrera, a young mother from the province of Las Tunas, whose 9-year-old daughter got infected with the COVID-19, which equally hurts people of different ages.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- “We have a very strict care regime for my daughter. She will never, not even in normal times, can be seen on the street, at a neighbor's house, or walking alone, even for short distances. Even at the age of going to and from school alone, my family is organized to take her and pick her up.”
With the children, no care is too much. Due to the characteristic of this age group, they do not know how aggressive the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be with their anatomies.
Television, teachers, and the families themselves have explained it many times; but, logically, their risk perception is not that of an adult. ¡What a pity, infants continue to be infected with the new coronavirus in the territory of Las Tunas!
Sources from the Ministry of Public Health in the province informed 26 that, until July 7, 2021, 371 children and adolescents under 18 years of age had become ill; of them, 86 remained active in the different care centers.
Health officials pointed out that, of those 86, six are children under one year of age, reported in care at the Fermín Valdés Domínguez hospital, in Holguín, and at the Mártires de Las Tunas pediatric hospital. And it hurts that there have been cases of newborns.
Why do our children get sick from COVID-19? The first thing is what happens in homes and communities since the 2020-2021 school year ended with records of sick students; but without outbreaks at schools, not even in childcare centers, which have continued providing service even in the most difficult moments of the pandemic.
In some neighborhoods of this city, the minors still walk in the streets even beyond 6:00 pm, the time established as a limit for the movement of people.
It is not general; but, sometimes they are seen without a facemask and in groups, running from one place to another, flying kites, playing balls, or talking very animated. Not to mention those who accompany their relatives to the stores, buy milk or bread, or any other task.
Unfortunately, their elders turn a blind eye, considering that there are no risks or thinking "poor kids, they have been locked up for a while; nothing will happen, it will be just a quick exit, and they will not talk to anyone..."
Sometimes, the contagion cannot be avoided; it comes as a painful surprise that shakes the foundations of the soul and hits the feelings of those who take care of their children the most, as happened to Mailé with her Rihanna Luz.
“I always followed hygienic measures both on the street and when I came home. When I learned that my colleagues had fallen ill, I began to use the facemask at home; but, it was too late.
“Even though I had no symptoms, I came forward and requested a quick test. Two days later, my whole family was hospitalized; only my mom, my dad, my daughter, and I live in my home. They all were infected. But more people could have been infected because I was asymptomatic almost all time.”
Cuba is already conducting a clinical trial in pediatric ages to study the efficacy of our vaccine candidates; but, in the short term, that will not be the solution. Now, it is about discipline inside and outside the house, and acting in correspondence with the social behavior that is requested so that children do not get sick.
“It only remains for us to take care of ourselves, and more to the children. And - as in my case - help the psychological recovery of those who have gone through that terrible experience. I am an adult and I have a phobia of the street, my confinement and everyday situations altered me. Imagine how it can be for children."
