Declaration of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs
On March 13, the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland requested permission from the Cuban authorities to dock the MS Braemar cruise ship, of Fred Olsen Shipping Line, in a Cuban port, with a small number of travellers infected with the new coronavirus (SARS CoV 2 / Covid-19), as well as their repatriation by air.
Given the urgency of the situation and the risk to the life of sick people, the Cuban government has decided to allow the docking of this ship and will adopt the relevant sanitary measures to receive all citizens on board, following the protocols established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Cuban Ministry of Public Health.
Together with the British authorities, it has been arranged that once the cruise passengers arrive in the national territory, these travellers will be safely and immediately returned to the United Kingdom on charter flights.
These are times of solidarity, of understanding health as a human right, of reinforcing international cooperation to face our common challenges, values inherent to the humanistic practice of the Revolution and of our people.
Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Havana, 16 March 2020.