Mozambique: 19 coronavirus tests come back negative; local transmission in SA increases

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Mozambique: 19 coronavirus tests come back negative; local transmission in SA increases

11:02 CAT | 18 Mar 2020

Seven more suspected cases of Covid-19 have been tested in Mozambique and, like the previous 12, have tested negative, @Verdade reports.

The Ministry of Health revealed to @Verdade that seven more suspected cases of coronavirus were tested and returned a negative result, bringing the number of individuals tested here, as of this Monday (16-03), to 19.

The tests were carried out on a teenager, and six adult citizens aged over 50 years. The new cases tested were identified in Maputo City and Sofala Province, and are travellers from countries with significant local transmission.

Meanwhile in South Africa, 23 more new cases of coronavirus were confirmed over the past 24 hours. Eight of these were local transmissions. This brings South Africa’s total confirmed coronavirus infections to 85.

ALSO READ: 8 local coronavirus transmissions confirmed as SA tally hits 85

South African authorities updated the number of Covid-19 patients to 85, the 23 new cases being registered in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, and nine of which were infected through contact in a neighbouring country.

Among several measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic, Cyril Ramaphosa’s government plans to close more border posts, one of which could be the one with Mozambique at Lebombo. A cruise ship with more than 1,000 passengers was refused entry to the port of Cape Town after the existence of a patient with Covid-19 on-board was confirmed.

Although, on Saturday (14-03), President Filipe Nyusi announced “mandatory 14-day quarantine for all citizens from countries with considerable active transmission”, travellers from South Africa, Eswatini or Tanzania, whether foreigners or Mozambicans, are not covered by the measure, and can move about freely in Mozambique after passing through border screening.

Mandatory home quarantine in Mozambique is only required for citizens who come from, or have in the past few days been in, China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Denmark, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Greece, Sweden, Norway and Portugal.

There have been almost 180,000 Covid-19 cases worldwide, resulting in 7,426 deaths.

By Adérito Caldeira

Source: A Verdade