Cuba artist's virus-inspired murals pop up in Havana

A Cuban artist is using the coronavirus epidemic as inspiration for his latest work, painting murals on the walls of a gritty industrial neighborhood in Havana that show ghostly figures and anguished shapes that depict how the disease is affecting life on the island.

Although some of his work is hopeful, 30-year-old "Yuliel P.," as he is known on the street, says it also shows the torment and uncertainty many are feeling as the pandemic continues to sweep the country, and the world, leaving anguish and fear in its wake.

Yuliel P. says his work is confined to street art because of a falling out he had with Cuban authorities several years ago over his art, which the government considered counter-revolutionary at the time, banning him from formally presenting his work on the island.

But he says his current work is not political, but aimed at reflecting the reality in the age of the coronavirus, and the hope people have of overcoming the pandemic and returning to their normal lives.

Murals lining walls are tucked away from the main streets of the 10th of October neighborhood, a shabby industrial section near refineries, factories and the Port of Havana, a bit of insurgent art in an area more accustomed to dusty traffic and the noise of heavy machinery.

Yuliel P. says he is content to display his art where he can, a catharsis that allows him to use his art to express the deep emotions roiling his society in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Johns Hopkins University, Cuba has 766 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 21 deaths.

Globally, the pandemic has sickened more than 2 million people, killed more than 128,000 worldwide, crippled economies and forced restrictions on the movement of millions of people in an effort to stop the virus from spreading further and overwhelming health care systems.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks.

But it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death for some people, especially older adults and people with existing health problems.