Mozambique: Government has “forgotten” Covid protection for police officers – Amopaip

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Mozambique: Government has “forgotten” Covid protection for police officers – Amopaip

6:21 CAT | 04 Mar 2021

File photo: Lusa

The Mozambican Police Association (Amopaip) on Wednesday accused the government of “forgetting” to ensure the protection of police stations and officers against Covid-19, turning the members of the corporation into vectors for the transmission of the pandemic.

“The government has forgotten to guarantee the protection of police stations and the police officers themselves. In almost 90% of police stations in the country, there is no disinfectant, soap, masks, water or thermometers,” Amopaip president Nazário Muanambane told Lusa.

Muanambane said that PRM agents are forced to buy protective equipment with their own money.

“There is no concern within the government regarding the protection of police officers. It gives the impression that protection has to be the personal concern of the agents,” Muanambane added.

The risk of infection and the spread of Covid-19 is greatest among traffic police, who deal closely with motorists and are always handling drivers’ documents.

“Colleagues from the traffic police have to buy alcohol gel to protect themselves at their own expense, because it is not distributed to them,” the Amopaip president said.

Nazário Muanambane said that the number of police officers who had died from Covid-19 may by now be higher than that made public some time ago by the General Police Command of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM).

PRM commander-general Bernardino Rafael recently said that 22 agents of the institution had lost their lives because of the new coronavirus since the outbreak of the pandemic in Mozambique in March last year.

But the president of Amopaip contests that number, speculating that “with the deficient diagnosis system in health units, especially in rural areas, there are colleagues who die from unknown causes, which may be Covid-related”,

Muanambane advocated that the agents of law and order should be included in the priority groups of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign which starts in the next few days in Mozambique.

“We accept that health professionals must be the first to be vaccinated, but it makes perfect sense that police officers are among the priority groups, because they are also at the forefront in combating the pandemic,” he added.

“Without the police on the street, day and night, no presidential decree [on restrictions to combat Covid-19] would be enforced,” Muanambane said.

Last month, the Mozambican Bar Association (OAM) criticised the lack of Covid-19 protection in Mozambican police stations, highlighting them as hotspots for the propagation of the new coronavirus.

Lusa was unable to secure a reaction from PRM General Command, despite several attempts.

By Thursday, Mozambique had reported 674 Covid-19 deaths, with cumulative totals of 61.170 cases, 44.276 recoveries and 181 hospitalised patients.

Source: Lusa