Havana, April 19 (RHC)-- The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, stated this Sunday that the men and women of science are opening up paths to better confront the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Cuba head of state stressed on his Twitter account that the work done allows for greater preparation to combat the disease caused by SARS CoV-2, using its own resources and technologies.  "The goal is to eradicate it, to destroy its high lethality, and for us to be able to immunize ourselves," he added in another message on that same social network.

The day before, the president met with representatives of the country's scientific institutions, with whom he reviewed the contributions to the common battle against the new coronavirus.  Díaz-Canel stressed that what has been achieved so far validates the application of the scientific method to face contingencies, since it contributes to decision-making and the effectiveness of actions to counteract the pandemic.

During the meeting, the first results of the virtual researcher developed by the University of Computer Sciences (UCI) and the Ministries of Health and Communications were shared.  The tool, in less than 24 hours, was used by 11,237 people, of whom 61 declared to be contacts of someone confirmed as positive to COVID-19.

"We also learned about the serological diagnostic test we are working on, which uses the Ultra Micro-Analytic System (Suma), which is nationwide in scope and will facilitate the massive search for cases in the population."

The manufacture of personal protection equipment and the repair of ventilators needed in intensive therapies were other contributions from the scientific community, for which several institutions and even private sector workers joined.