Tag: tourists

Categories
Health

Who can journey to Phuket? Vaccinated vacationers who comply with guidelines

Who can travel to Phuket? Vaccinated tourists who follow rules

From July 1, tourists can visit Phuket without quarantine for the first time since March 2020.

In Thailand’s much-discussed “sandbox” pilot, the largest island has reopened to vaccinated travelers willing to stick to a laundry list of rules designed to safely resume tourism amid the pandemic.

The plan depends on a concerted vaccination campaign to vaccinate 70% of Phuket’s population, a goal local authorities achieved earlier this month as 74% of the population were vaccinated.

Local media has questioned this number, which is in stark contrast to Thailand’s nationwide immunization rate of around 4%. But confirmed Covid cases have dropped dramatically in Phuket. The island saw single-digit daily cases this week, while Thailand reported its third highest daily case count – 5,406 infections – overall on June 27.

The “sandbox” plan makes Phuket a testing ground for protocols which, if successful, are likely to roll out in other parts of Thailand – and possibly other destinations in Southeast Asia – later this year.

A test of the tourists’ appetite for rules

But Phuket, like most of Southeast Asia, doesn’t make it easy for tourists to enter.

According to the Thai Tourism Authority (TAT), to avoid quarantine in Phuket, visitors must provide:

  • A vaccination card with a vaccine approved by the World Health Organization or Thai Health Authorities issued at least 14 days prior to arrival; Children traveling with you are allowed
  • A negative RT-PCR test (performed within 72 hours of departure)
  • A minimum of $ 100,000 in health insurance to cover the stay
  • An admission known as a certificate of entry to enter
  • Proof of payment for a 14-day stay and necessary Covid tests or for a stay of less than two weeks, travelers must also present confirmed departures from Thailand
  • Evidence that travelers have spent the past 21 days in a low or medium risk country on a list on the Thai Department of Disease Control website that is mainly in Thai

A selection of countries and territories on Thailand’s list

Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Source: TAT; updated June 29; List not exhaustive

Upon arrival, travelers must undergo a health screening and download a monitoring application called ThailandPlus. They also have to do and pay for a Covid-19 test and wait for the results at their hotel. Additional tests are required on travel day 6 or 7, for longer stays again on day 12 or 13.

Those who tested negative can travel freely around Phuket and other parts of Thailand after 14 days, as long as they practice social distancing, undergo temperature checks and wear masks, according to the tourism authority’s website.

Masks are required in public areas such as the beach and in cars.

Authorities recommend tourists to use SHA + restaurants and taxis in Phuket, but do not have to.

Pakin Songmor | Moment | Getty Images

Tourists are required to pay in advance and stay in hotels or host families that are “SHA +” certified, which means they have met safety and health agency measures and vaccinated more than 70% of the staff.

Anyone who tests positive “will be referred to specific health facilities at their own expense for medical treatment,” according to the TAT website.

More visitors than Rome in happier times

With almost 11 million arrivals, Phuket was the 15th most visited city in the world in 2019, according to a report by consultancy Euromonitor International entitled “Top 100 City Destinations”.

Wedged between Mumbai (No. 14) and Rome (No. 16), the island, with its estimated 420,000 inhabitants, towered above the list of international travelers but no domestic visitors, day-trippers and cruise passengers.

The entire travel industry awaits the reopening of Phuket.

Jade Chandhakant

Regional Director of Trip.com

Despite the island’s popularity, Phuket reopening is expected to be subdued. Spring Covid outbreaks in Thailand, combined with meandering schedules, rule changes, and late government approval for the “sandbox” program last week, may have put off summer tourists who have likely made other plans by now.

There is a preference for domestic travel and a persistent aversion to flying among countries returning summer, especially the types of long-haul flights required to reach Thailand from the United States or Europe.

Thailand’s neighbors are unlikely to pack their bags either. Tourism has not started in earnest again anywhere in Southeast Asia, where strict quarantines and sluggish vaccination campaigns have nearly ended the summer tourist prospects.

Unvaccinated tourists can visit Phuket but must be quarantined for 14 nights in designated hotels.

Pone-Pluck | Moment | Getty Images

That’s not good news for Thailand, as almost 72% of its overnight guests were from Asia in 2019, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Almost a quarter of all tourists to Thailand come from China, which does not yet allow residents to travel freely for leisure tourism.

According to the Bangkok Post, 1,500 people are expected to arrive in Phuket, which would be a long way from the daily average of 25,000 tourists it received before the pandemic.

But it’s a start, and Thai officials hope to replicate it elsewhere soon.

What’s next?

With its sugar-sweet beaches and lively nightlife, Phuket isn’t the only “sandpit” Thailand has in the making.

The islands of Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao were reopened to vaccinated travelers on July 15 following a similar scheme. The cultural enclave of Chiang Mai, a city in the north of the country, could soon follow suit.

If Thailand’s sandbox program proves successful, other countries could take similar action, said Jade Chandhakant, Trip.com’s regional director for Thailand and Vietnam.

According to the Thai Tourism Authority, direct flights to Phuket are operated by British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways.

Pakin Songmor | Moment | Getty Images

“The entire travel industry is expecting Phuket to reopen,” he said. “We hope that the reopening of Phuket will mark the beginning of more ‘sandboxes’ and that this is a surefire way to resume recreational tourism in Southeast Asia.”

As for Thailand, whatever the outcome, the country may push for a reopening. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha indicated in a speech on June 16 that his goal was to open all of Thailand by mid-October.

He said Thailand “cannot wait for a time when everyone is fully vaccinated with two vaccinations to open the country or when the world is free of the virus”.

“I know there is some risk involved in making this decision because if we open up the country there will be an increase in infections no matter how good our precautions are,” he said. “Now is the time to take this calculated risk.”

Categories
World News

The Maldives Lured Vacationers Again. Now It Wants Nurses.

The Maldives Lured Tourists Back. Now It Needs Nurses.

MALÉ, Maldives – The largest Covid-19 treatment facility in the Maldives has almost 300 beds and a constant supply of oxygen. But when the country reported some of the highest per capita cases in the world last month, Covid stations ran out of another vital resource: staff.

“In the worst case, we had a nurse who cared for 20 patients on the general wards,” said Mariya Saeed, director of the Hulhumalé medical facility in the capital, Malé. “We needed staff to adequately care for the many bedridden elderly people, but the nurses were exhausted.”

The pandemic has created a shortage of health workers around the world, forcing governments to make an effort. Spain, for example, launched an emergency plan last year to recruit medical students and retired doctors for the Covid service. And in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month asked local officials to start recruiting medical students last year.

But the Maldives, an archipelago with around 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean, are facing unique challenges. It can’t just be crowds of. call Students because there is only one university with one medical school. And she can’t just rely on her citizens, because her health system is heavily dependent on foreign workers. Many of these doctors and nurses are from India, a country facing its own gigantic outbreak.

One result is that the Maldives, which otherwise approached the pandemic with great attention to detail, are not sure how to man their hospitals for the next crisis.

“We spoke to countries like Bangladesh and India about recruiting their doctors and nurses,” President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih told reporters last month. “But they cannot provide any help because of their own Covid situation.”

The Maldives, a predominantly Muslim country with around 540,000 inhabitants, has described itself as a model of the pandemic response for small countries. With aggressive contact tracing and reliance on the island’s scattered geography to slow down outbreaks, the government kept its Covid case numbers low enough to lift restrictions on domestic movement and lure international tourists back to their luxury resorts, a mainstay of the economy. In April, Ramadan festivals and nationwide council elections were held as usual.

“You never know what will happen tomorrow,” Thoyyib Mohamed, executive director of the country’s official public relations agency, told the New York Times in February. “But first I have to say: This is a really good case study for the whole world, especially for tropical destinations.”

Many people in Malé now have a deceased in their extended family, said Marjan Montazemi, the Unicef ​​representative in the Maldives. “Because the numbers are not the same as in other countries, it doesn’t get as much attention,” she said. “But it was pretty difficult for the country.”

Officials in the Maldives have not confirmed how variants could have affected the recent outbreak, but local doctors say the Delta variant, which was first discovered in neighboring India, likely played a role.

As cases rose to more than 1,500 a day last month, hundreds of Covid-19 patients came to the Hulhumalé medical facility. Although the facility with 16 doctors and 89 nurses was built last year to treat Covid patients, it wasn’t finished.

“We were always prepared for a possible surge, but such a sudden and massive wave just came unexpectedly,” said Nazla Musthafa, government health advisor.

To make up for the shortage of doctors and nurses, the Maldives National University’s medical school, opened in 2019, with a total of 115 students, sent dozens of medical and nursing students to Malé’s Covid wards. The government also called in retired nurses and hired volunteers with no medical experience.

Ms. Saeed, the director of the Hulhumalé medical facility, said volunteers mainly helped patients go to the bathroom, turn over in bed, maneuver wheelchairs and oxygen bottles, and perform other basic functions. She said volunteers wore protective clothing but there was no time to screen them for Covid-19.

One volunteer, Rizna Zareer, 35, said she mainly provided moral support to patients who were not allowed to receive visitors.

“We were her family and I saw her that way,” she said.

The shortage of medical staff is so great that lab technicians involved in contact tracing have to work around the clock, a World Bank team of experts said in a statement.

The bottleneck underscores a reliance on foreign health workers that the government knew was a problem even before the pandemic broke out.

In 2018, all but a fifth of the roughly 900 doctors and more than half of the nearly 3,000 nurses in the Maldives were expatriates, resulting in high turnover that affected the quality of health care, a government report said.

Other countries, including Ireland, Israel, and New Zealand, also rely heavily on expatriates to work in healthcare. But unlike them, the Maldives are not rich. That means it can’t compete as aggressively to lure foreign doctors and nurses, especially during a pandemic that has left virtually all health workers outnumbered.

S. Irudaya Rajan, chairman of the International Institute for Migration and Development, a research organization based in South India, said he expected countries sending large numbers of health workers overseas, including India and the Philippines, to tweak policies in order to do so more to keep workers at home.

The Maldives needs a better strategy to ensure more stable supplies of foreign doctors and nurses, Rajan said. One way would be to sponsor Indian medical students in India and require them to work in the Maldives for a few years after they graduate, he said.

“A lesson every country should learn from Covid-19 is: Don’t exploit poor countries like India and the Philippines,” said Rajan. “Invest in them and their people and they can benefit you.”

A spokesman for President Solih of the Maldives did not respond to requests for comment.

The daily average of new cases in the Maldives is now about 260 or less than a quarter of last month’s high. However, as of Friday, the country still had around 21,000 active cases, and a 12-hour curfew introduced in Malé last month remained in place. The call to prayer still sounds five times a day from the city’s mosques, but the number of believers is limited.

The government recently announced a plan to build a new 270 bed facility in Malé to cope with future outbreaks and increase the country’s total bed capacity for Covid patients from 460 to 730 it.

Mr Solih told reporters last month that his Minister of Health, Ahmed Naseem, hoped to recruit 40 doctors and 100 nurses from India and Bangladesh by the end of June. But at the same press conference, Mr. Naseem tried to lower expectations.

“It is currently difficult to employ people from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka,” he said. “Sri Lanka in particular is almost impossible. I’ve tried for many days. “

Maahil Mohamed reported from Malé, the Maldives, and Mike Ives from Hong Kong.

Categories
Business

Europe is welcoming vaccinated vacationers this summer time

Portugal hotels face high demand after UK changes quarantine

Beach goers sunbathe and swim on a beach in Portimao, Algarve Region, Portugal.

NurPhoto | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Delicious pasta in Florence, a stroll along the Champs-Élysées in Paris or a beautiful sunset on one of the Greek islands – tourism in Europe wants to get back to normal this summer.

EU countries officially agreed on Thursday to welcome foreign travelers who have received one of the coronavirus vaccines approved by European regulators. So far, these include vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Vaccinated persons are allowed to enter the block if they have received the last recommended dose at least 14 days before their arrival in the EU.

Ultimately, each Member State will decide when and to whom to reopen its borders. Therefore, each government from the 27 nations will decide whether to completely lift quarantine measures and / or tests for international visitors.

Children excluded from the vaccination can travel to the block with their family if they did not test negative more than 72 hours before arrival.

While it remains to be seen how each EU nation will welcome foreign travelers, the deal at the EU level is a welcome move for the ailing tourism industry.

“We know consumers want to travel this summer, so we appreciate that European countries could allow vaccinated people to travel without testing,” an easyJet airline spokesman told CNBC via email.

“It is of course important that this is done in a simple manner to ensure that it is easy for passengers,” said the same spokesman.

The EU decision could be particularly important for British tourists who are now outside the EU and represent one of the most important markets for tourism-dependent EU countries. In addition, people in the US, Israel and other highly vaccinated parts of the world should also benefit from the EU’s stance.

So far, the EU has only assessed a country’s coronavirus infection rate to decide whether to allow visitors. But the bloc is now relaxing that rule too, and more citizens from more countries will get the green light.

But Brussels is also aware that the health situation could change due to new variants of the virus.

As a result, the EU countries have also agreed on a new “emergency brake”. If the epidemiological situation in a country worsens, they can quickly impose travel restrictions in that country.

Travel and Leisure stocks in Europe closed 1.5% on Thursday.

Stephen Furlong, a senior analyst at wealth management firm Davy, told CNBC that the EU’s decision was largely expected by market participants, hence the muted stock response.

“It is still not clear whether the US is opening up to Europe,” he said of one of the major uncertainties for international travel this summer, while predicting that he does not expect “consumers will travel extensively”.

Categories
Business

Hemphill Brothers pivots RV leases from rock stars to vacationers throughout Covid

Hemphill Brothers pivots RV rentals from rock stars to tourists during Covid

The Hemphill Brothers Coach Company knows a thing or two about how celebrities live on the streets. The Nashville-based RV company, run by brothers Joey and Trent Hemphill, has been building and equipping luxury tour buses for 40 years, promoting an A-list of megastars ranging from Taylor Swift, Oprah, Dolly Parton and Beyonce to former US presidents.

“2020 was our best year yet. It has already been booked as our biggest year in our company’s history,” said Trent Hemphill when CNBC first caught up with Hemphill in October.

When the coronavirus pandemic led to the sudden cancellation of concerts across the country in early March 2020, RV rentals booked with them totaling $ 30 million for musicians on tour went out the door. “My brother and I have been through many things together in this business, but none of the above,” said Trent Hemphill.

American Bus Association data estimates that the 75% to 80% decline in tour bus journeys since mid-March 2020 has been canceled due to the pandemic, a loss of nearly $ 5 billion to the US entertainment bus industry, which includes tour buses Organizers and tour operators.

The Hemphills grew up touring as a successful family gospel group before borrowing money from their father in 1980 to buy their first bus for rent. Now they have over 100 buses. The Hemphill Brothers Coach Company is located in Nashville, Tenn.

Brothers Joey and Trent Hemphill entered the RV business in 1980 with just one bus. The Nashville-based fleet now includes more than 100 coaches and over 200 employees, and has a long list of celebrity A-list customers.

Hemphill Brothers Coach Company

Business was booming in the first five months of 2019, with 95% of the Hemphill fleet on the open road. But in early 2020, “not a single RV left the lot for three months,” said Joey Hemphill. “We were seen as essential transportation for the government. But there was no business.”

“The most painful thing we ever had to do was lay off employees. We had to be very nimble and cut costs immediately and find a way to get to the other side,” he added.

So the brothers put their heads together and decided to do something they had never done before: create a social media presence and start marketing their buses to the masses.

“We’re dealing with tour managers. Dealing with the public is something we’ve never done in our 40 years. So it was all new to us,” said Joey Hemphill.

“We said our equipment can be used by the public who don’t even know we exist. We just need to get the message across,” added Trent Hemphill.

To cause a stir, the brothers came up with the idea of ​​”Travel Like a Rock Star” to market their luxury RVs to American tourists and travelers looking for an alternative to air travel during the pandemic.

“This has not only generated revenue for the company, but also for our employees and drivers,” said Trent Hemphill. The “Rockstar Experience” went viral – and the Hemphills said they had closed dozen of tourist road trip rentals in the past year and through 2021.

The buses resemble a rolling five-star hotel, and drivers can choose between several layouts. The “Sternbus” offers space for up to 12 people and even for pets. Every part of the bus can be closed for privacy reasons. The brothers said that every bus is “extremely bespoke” and “no two buses are the same”.

The famous Hemphill Brothers motorhomes are equipped with high quality materials and decorations such as real leather, hardwood floors, granite, marble and quartz. The lavish buses are aimed at luxury travelers looking for the ultimate in comfort on the road.

Hemphill Brothers Coach Company

Hemphill buses offer travelers a ride in luxury: each motorhome is fitted with high quality finishes, including real leather, hardwood floors, granite, marble and quartz.

The cost of renting the camper starts between $ 1,200 and $ 1,500 per day, depending on the mileage. Driver, fuel, and utilities are included, and drivers can meet travelers in their homes anywhere in the Americas

Trent Hemphill said the advantages of traveling by road over an airplane are numerous. “You only have to pack once,” and passengers wake up at their next destination in the morning while the bus travels overnight, “he added.” Our drivers are so good at giving you such a smooth ride. They don’t even know you’re moving. “

“Personally, I sleep better on a bus than at home,” said Joey Hemphill.

Who else slept on a Hemphill bus? The same company that made superstar Taylor Swift’s first tour bus made the last built by country legend Merle Haggard.

The buses are sterilized before each trip and the drivers are tested for Covid before each trip and spend the night in pre-arranged accommodations between the destinations. Prices may vary based on a person’s schedule and itinerary, or travelers can opt for a tailored itinerary.

The Calderon family said when their South Africa trip derailed due to the pandemic, one of the best decisions would be to rent a Hemphill bus for the same amount of money and take a tour overland.

“We have been all over the world and had some great vacations. I think we had no idea that we would come back and say of all the trips we have made in our lives that this was our favorite,” said Karla Calderon.

Karla, her husband Rafael, and their two young children rode their Hemphill bus west for 12 days, starting in Nashville and ending in Yosemite National Park. “We always want to travel outside of the US and see all of these things. This [trip] reminded me that this country is amazing, “said Rafael Calderon.

The Hemphill Brothers said they have also increased other revenue streams through sales of used equipment and custom interior modifications and remodeling for outside customers. The company said this helped offset some of the loss in rental income during the pandemic and enabled them to get employees back to work.

Even if live concerts return, the Hemphills plan to keep part of their fleet for tourists.

“We experienced a storm and had to take control of the company again. And we realized that we can still do that.” said Trent Hemphill. “It was a challenge, but it also enlivened him and me a little to see that the decisions we make every day can affect the bottom line of our business. Just like in the beginning. It makes you feel young again.”

Categories
Health

Cuba’s Covid vaccine may very well be made eligible for vacationers

Cuba's Covid vaccine could be made eligible for tourists

On October 23, 2020, at the Melia Varadero International Hotel in Matanzas Province, a man is standing near a Cuban national flag. Varadero, Cuba’s main seaside resort, is reopening to international tourism amid the coronavirus pandemic.

YAMIL LOCATION | AFP | Getty Images

Cuba’s most advanced Covid-19 vaccine candidate is set to enter late-stage clinical trials next week, bringing the tiny island nation ever closer to an exceptional medical performance that analysts believe will have far-reaching ramifications across the global south.

Cuba’s most promising vaccine candidate of the four under development is Soberana 02. The vaccine name translates from Spanish to “Sovereign”, an alleged allusion to Cuba’s national pride in its world-famous healthcare system.

Soberana 02 is scheduled to enter phase 3 studies from March 1. According to official figures, up to 150,000 volunteers will take part in the tests within weeks. Phase 3 trials represent the final phase before a vaccine is generally approved by national regulatory authorities.

It comes at a time when many people in Cuba are forced to stand in line for hours to buy basic goods and the authorities continue to adhere to a decade-long US trade embargo – with sanctions that former President Donald Trump has in recent years Years.

“It’s just this incredible dichotomy,” Helen Yaffe, a Cuba expert and lecturer in economic and social history at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, told CNBC over the phone.

“On one hand, you have this high-tech biotech sector that brings a lot of hope to the global south because there is the possibility of an affordable vaccine – (and) vaccinating the global south will be the priority,” said Yaffe.

“And at the same time, Cubans get up at four or five in the morning to join the queue because there is a real shortage of really basic food and even medicine.”

What do we know about Soberana 02?

The Cuban Finlay Institute, the country’s leading biopharma institution, is overseeing the development of Soberana 02. Vicente Verez, director of the institute, has indicated that the vaccine could be available as an option to tourists later this year.

If Soberana 02 is found to be safe and effective, the development of a domestically manufactured vaccine will likely be hailed as an astounding scientific breakthrough and major political triumph. Cuba would also be the first Latin American country to immunize its population with a domestically manufactured vaccine.

Technician Mayelin Mejias will work in the vaccine aseptic and packaging processing facility at the Finlay Vaccine Institute in Havana on January 20, 2021.

YAMIL LOCATION | AFP | Getty Images

The government has not yet outlined any concrete plans for vaccinating tourists, but analysts say it is possible for foreigners traveling to Cuba to receive their first dose of vaccine on the island before subsequent doses to take away.

Although public data are limited, it is believed that up to three doses of the vaccine could be given at two-week intervals.

People are already talking about sun, sea, sand and Soberana 02. So I wouldn’t be surprised if people went to Cuba to look for the vaccine and I’m sure the Cubans will offer it.

Helen Yaffe

Lecturer in Economic and Social History at the University of Glasgow

Yaffe, who is also the author of We Are Cuba !: How a Revolutionary People Survived in a Post-Soviet World, said Cuba’s sophisticated health system would help the country introduce the vaccine “extremely” quickly.

“I can guarantee that. And if they have a vaccine every two weeks, people could be vaccinated within a month of starting,” Yaffe said.

“By the summer, people will be pretty desperate to go on vacation, and I think Cuba, which is nominating itself as the ideal travel destination. People are already talking about sun, sea, sand and Soberana 02. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Die People go to Cuba to find the vaccine and I’m sure the Cubans will offer it. “

How does it work?

The Soberana 02 vaccine is a conjugated vaccine. This is a type of vaccine that contains a portion of the spike protein that binds or conjugates to human cells to increase its stability and effectiveness.

Unlike other coronavirus vaccine candidates like Pfizer-BioNTech, Soberana 02 doesn’t require any additional cooling requirements. This should ease the logistical and administrative challenges associated with vaccination programs in low-income countries.

People line up in Havana to buy groceries on Feb.2, 2021 as Covid-19 cases emerge in the island nation.

YAMIL LOCATION | AFP | Getty Images

At a virtual session led by the Pan American Health Organization on February 5, Dr. Verez, Soberana 02 returned “encouraging results” in the early test phases. He added that the vaccination has not yet produced any significant side effects.

The Cuban government has announced that it will produce 100 million cans of Soberana 02 this year to meet the needs of its own citizens as well as those in other countries. It is said to be one of the first countries in the world to vaccinate its entire population in 2021, though many advanced nations started administering bumps almost two months ago.

Several countries have expressed an interest in purchasing the vaccine, including Vietnam, Iran, Venezuela and the African Union, which represents all 55 countries in Africa.

Cuba, which has seen relatively few Covid cases compared to other countries in the region, has seen a sharp rise in infections and deaths in recent weeks. To date, Cuba has recorded 45,361 cases of the coronavirus and 300 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

“One of the world’s best kept secrets”

Cuba has long been known for its medical diplomacy. Thousands of professionals have been sent abroad to help countries cope with short-term crises, natural disasters and medical emergencies.

Human rights groups have raised concerns that the Cuban government is imposing repressive rules on doctors working abroad and invoking the right to privacy, freedom, expression and association.

At the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, Cuba had an estimated 24,500 medical workers in 58 countries. Another 4,000 members of the Cuban Henry Reeve Brigade, a group of highly respected health professionals, have worked in countries from Kuwait to Mexico, Italy to South Africa.

Cuban doctors during a welcoming ceremony for Cuban health workers deployed in Cape Town, South Africa, in the Western Cape on May 24, 2020 to support efforts in the fight against COVID-19.

Mischa Jordaan | Gallo Images via Getty Images

It’s a deeply rooted tradition that the country, with just over 11 million, has more medical staff working overseas than all of the G7 countries combined.

“This is an extraordinary recording, largely unknown to the mainstream media – one of the best-kept secrets in the world,” said John Kirk, a professor in the Latin America program at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, via email to CNBC.

“Medical internationalism is in Cuban DNA, and the preamble to the Cuban Constitution mentions the obligation that Cuba must share its medical talent with developing countries,” he added.