Maputo city: Schools had registered 21 Covid-19 cases by Monday, July 12 – O País report

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Maputo city: Schools had registered 21 Covid-19 cases by Monday, July 12 – O País report

2:41 CAT | 13 Jul 2021

Photo: O País

By Monday morning (July 12), schools in the city of Maputo had registered 21 new coronavirus cases in students and teachers, with authorities warning that the situation is likely to worsen, O País reports.

According to Sheila Davuca, head of school health at the Social Services Directorate of Maputo City, after a long period with no new Covid-19 cases, 14 new cases were registered in the capital’s schools by July 8, and numbers continued to increase as per the Monday update.

“From the 14 [positive Covid-19 cases] that we had last week until this morning, we are already aware of 21 new cases, that is, they increased from 14 to 21, and we also have another 28 suspected cases who are awaiting the results of their tests at home.”

Davuca says that, according to the schools, the 28 suspected cases had Covid-19 symptoms and were referred to health facilities, where they were tested.

The city of Maputo has 262 schools and 343,000 students. Despite the new cases, authorities believe that the situation is under control.

“Whenever we register a case, we report to the ministry for analysis and a possible decision to close the school, but we are still in control of the situation, and no schools have been closed,” the source explained.

Of the 21 positive cases registered in schools in Maputo city, only one is hospitalised, the rest being in isolation at home.

Polana Caniço Primary School is among the educational establishments with positive cases already registered by the authorities.

Absalão Munguambe, director of the aforementioned school, said that the case was detected last week, and that the student’s guardian had informed the school about it.

“He is an eight-year-old student who attends third grade. He fell ill at home and his parents had him take the test, which came back positive. They say it’s the first case in the family,” Munguambe reported.

When the school became aware of the case, they informed the Maputo City Directorate of Education, which ordered the continuation of classes on condition that the classrooms be dismantled and other coronavirus prevention measures scrupulously implemented.

Some of the active Covid-19 cases reported by the Ministry of Health in the last few days are school-age children. In fact, since the beginning of the pandemic, 5,185 children from five to 14 years old had by Sunday (July 11) tested positive for the new coronavirus in the country.

By Julieta Zucula

Source: O País