Angola: Justice minister becomes second cabinet member confirmed with Covid-19

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Angola: Justice minister becomes second cabinet member confirmed with Covid-19

12:58 CAT | 14 Oct 2020

File photo: TPA

Angola’s minister for justice and human rights, Francisco Queiroz, is infected with the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19, but his condition is stable, an official at the ministry confirmed to Lusa on Wednesday.

The source did not say how long the minister had been infected, but that Queiroz had informed officials at the ministry of his condition and asked them to comply with measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

According to the source, preparations are being made to test a number of people who work at the ministry.

In his message, Queiroz said that he was at the Clínica Girassol in Luanda, where he was being given medication but was in a relatively good condition.

“The medical team is dedicated, professional and humane,” he said in the message. “There are other patients in a slightly more complicated situation, who sometimes moan in pain and cry out for the intervention of professionals.”

He welcomed the fact that he had not so far felt “the painful effects of Covid” and expressed the hope that he had not left “many traces of the disease among his colleagues, family and friends.”

Queiroz is the second member of the government to be diagnosed with Covid-19. The first was the minister for industry and trade, Victor Fernandes.

On Friday, the governor of Uíje province and former governor of Luanda, Sérgio Luther Rescova, who was also a leading figure in the governing MPLA party, died “of illness” at the age of 40. While the authorities did not make public the cause of his death, media reports point to his having been a victim of Covid-19.

As of Tuesday, Angola had had 6,680 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 222 deaths associated with Covid-19 and 2,761 patients deemed to have recovered. There were 2,697 active cases, with 13 patients in critical condition and 19 serious.

Worldwide, the pandemic has caused more than 1.8 million deaths out of more than 37.8 million cases of infection.

Source: Lusa