Mozambique: All Covid-19 preventive measures “remain valid” – AIM report

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Mozambique: All Covid-19 preventive measures “remain valid” – AIM report

7:38 CAT | 19 Sep 2020

The fact that various areas of the Mozambican economy are being reopened does not mean that the threat from the Covid-19 respiratory disease has been eliminated, the Deputy National Director of Public Health, Benigna Matsinhe, warned on Thursday.

Speaking at a Maputo press conference, Matsinhe stressed that, although the state of emergency has been replaced by “a state of public calamity”, all the measures of prevention against Covid-19, adopted during the state of emergency, “remain valid”.

Schools and universities, completely closed during the state of emergency, have begun to reopen, and religious services can he held, albeit with restrictions. Cinemas, theatres and casinos are also re-opening, although bars remain firmly closed.

Matsinhe expressed concern that this easing has been accompanied by a relaxation of the Covid-19 prevention measures. “I would like to urge all of society to comply with the measures of prevention”, she said. “The increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and of hospitalisations due to the disease show that there are failings in prevention, and it is urgent to correct them”.

The sharp increase in the number of cases, and hence of the number of people in home isolation, were signs that the country is going through “a critical situation”, she added.

People in isolation should not leave their house or receive visits, she insisted. Nor should they share items such as plates, cups and cutlery, or even devices such as cell phones and television remote controls, with other members of their household.

“The task of collaborating to reduce the spread of Covid-19 is in our hands”, Matsinhe said.

Summarising the latest developments, she said that, since the start of the pandemic, 119,689 people have been tested in Mozambique for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, 1,032 of them in the previous 24 hours. 784 samples were tested in public facilities, and 248 in private laboratories.

Of the total number of samples, 348 were from Maputo city, 214 from Zambezia, 159 from Cabo Delgado, 103 from Nampula, 89 from Maputo province, 82 from Sofala, 22 from Niassa, 11 from Manica, two from Tete and two from Gaza.

865 of the tests gave negative results, and 167 samples tested positive for the coronavirus. This brings the total number of cases, since the first positive diagnosis on 22 March, to 6,161.

165 of the new cases are Mozambicans, one is South African and one is a French national. 98 are men or boys and 69 are women or girls. Ten are children under the age of five, and 11 are over 65 years old.

73 cases are from Maputo city and 32 from Maputo province. So between them Maputo city and province account for 63 per cent of the new cases. But there is also an alarming surge of Covid-19 in the central province of Zambezia, where 43 cases were diagnosed. There were also eight cases from Cabo Delgado, three from Niassa, three from Sofala, and one each from Tete, Manica and Gaza.

The Health Ministry is no longer breaking down the new cases by district of origin. Matsinhe said this is to “simplify” the information provided every day. But there is nothing secret about this information, and anybody interested can obtain it.

In accordance with standard Ministry of Health procedure, all 167 new cases are in home isolation, and their contacts are being traced.

In the same 24 hour period, Matsinhe said, a further four Covid-19 patients, all in Maputo city, were hospitalised. The number of patients under medical care in isolation wards has now risen to 44 (39 in Maputo city, two in Gaza, one in Tete, one in Nampula and one in Zambezia.

Matsinhe announced that a further 126 people have made a full recovery from Covid-19 (108 in Zambezia, 16 in Tete and two in Niassa). A total of 3,393 people have recovered from the disease, which is 55 per cent of all people known to be infected with the coronavirus.

As of Thursday, the geographical breakdown of all 6,161 positive cases, by the provinces where they were diagnosed, was as follows: Maputo city, 2,556; Maputo province, 1,059; Cabo Delgado, 680; Nampula, 566; Gaza, 263; Zambezia, 262; Sofala, 200; Tete, 172; Niasa,171; Inhambane, 103; Manica, 99.

Maputo city and province account for almost 69 per cent of all positive cases, and 74.5 per cent of the currently active cases.

The Thursday key Covid-19 statistics for Mozambique were: 6,161 confirmed cases, of which 3,393 have made a complete recovery and 2,725 are active cases. 43 Covid-19 patients have died, 39 from the disease and four from other causes.

Source: AIM