UNICEF estimates that around 4.8 million Mozambicans require humanitarian assistance
Coronavirus: Maputo says no cases detected in the country, no Mozambican in China is infected
1:56 CAT | 05 Feb 2020
Photo: Miramar
Health Minister Armindo Tiago said in Maputo today that no Mozambican resident in China was infected with the new coronavirus, and that three suspected cases in Mozambican territory had tested negative.
“The information that exists, through the Mozambican Embassy in China, indicates that, so far, there are no Mozambicans who have been diagnosed or confirmed with coronavirus,” Armindo Tiago said.
The minister was speaking at a press conference at the end of the weekly session of the Council of Ministers, in which he presented a progress report on Mozambique’s degree of preparedness in the face of the outbreak.
No case of the disease had been diagnosed, even among Mozambicans living in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the epidemic, Tiago noted.
The health minister said that the Mozambican government did not see an “imperative need to repatriate Mozambicans” residing in China, not least because the World Health Organisation (WHO) did not recommend such a measure.
Evacuation of Mozambicans living in China
The Council of Ministers of Mozambique has ruled out the need to launch any evacuation operation for Mozambicans residing in the People’s Republic of China, an option undertaken by some other countries.
Minister of Health Armindo Daniel Tiago said on Tuesday that the measure was not being considered, in part because of the costs involved.
Speaking in Maputo at the end of the third session of the Council of Ministers, Tiago said that the main consideration was the “logistics necessary to ensure the quarantine of people and all the follow-up procedures that would need to be considered before moving forward with an evacuation operation”.
The minister of health pointed out that the Mozambican authorities were currently carrying out a survey of national citizens living in China.
In terms of preparing for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, the Mozambican authorities have set up a transit centre at Maputo International Airport for suspected cases and isolation centres at the country’s main hospitals.
Mozambique is to increase the number of testing kits available through the purchase of more products and taking up an offer of help from the WHO.
China has meanwhile updated its death toll to 426, and number of infections to 20,400.
The new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was detected last December in Wuhan, capital of China’s central Hubei province, since placed under quarantine.
The first person to die from the new coronavirus outside China was a Chinese citizen in the Philippines.
In addition to mainland China and the Chinese regions of Macau and Hong Kong, there are confirmed cases of infection in more than 20 other countries.
The WHO on Thursday declared an international public health emergency situation, triggering the adoption of coordinated preventive measures worldwide.
Source: Lusa / VOA Portugues
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