Havana, Mar 15 (RHC) - Health authorities from a region in Italy and several Caribbean nations requested Cuban medical personnel on Saturday to fight the coronavirus.

Lombardy, Italy, requested medical assistance from the Cuban government to fight the pandemic caused by the coronavirus 2019. 

In the Caribbean, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines announced that they would request or have already requested medical assistance from their Cuban counterparts.

Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on Twitter that 21 Cuban nurses would arrive on the Caribbean island in the next few days.

 He noted, however, that they require around 100 to deal with the new disease, which has already caused more than 5,000 deaths worldwide.

"We are expanding the staff to deal with what we expect to come. On March 24, 21 specialized nurses will arrive from Cuba. We are looking to get about 100," he said on tweet.

Terrance Drew, a health expert from the opposition St. Kitts and Nevis Labor Party (SKNLP), said they want to ask Cuban authorities for "help in creating an infrastructure and a plan to treat people who become infected.

A similar request was made by the authorities of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Italy, health officials in the northern region of Lombardy reported that they have asked several countries, including Cuba, for medical personnel to combat the coronavirus.

As of Sunday, Italy has a record of 2000 deaths from COVID-19.