Mozambique: Epidemiological survey launched in Maputo – AIM report

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Mozambique: Epidemiological survey launched in Maputo – AIM report

3:44 CAT | 03 Aug 2020

File photo: Lusa

The Mozambican authorities on Monday launched an epidemiological survey in Maputo, seeking to discover the true extent of infection by the coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease.

This is the third such survey in the country. The earlier surveys were held in the cities of Nampula and Pemba, the two areas where the health authorities believe that Covid-19 has made the transition from an epidemic with foci of transmission to an epidemic with community transmission. The authorities fear that community transmission may also have begun in Maputo.

The survey depends on a rapid blood test which does not detect the coronavirus directly, but detects antibodies showing that the person in question has been in contact with the virus. Such a test does not show whether someone is currently infected, but reveals how far the virus has spread over time.

The purpose of the survey is to show which parts of the city have the highest concentration of the virus, and which professional groups are most exposed.

Launching the survey, the Secretary of State for Maputo City, Sheila Afonso, said the survey sample should be 11,000 people, in all the municipal districts and all the neighbourhoods of the capital.

The survey will run from Monday through to 21 August, and the main target groups include health workers, public and private transport workers, the police, port and airport staff, and elderly citizens.

There has been a sharp rise recently in the number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in Maputo, and of all the country’s 11 provinces, the city is now the one with the highest number of active coronavirus cases.

Afonso stressed the urgency of designing strategies to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in the city, and avoid community transmission.

“The situation in our city concerns the government”, she said. “Right now we have the largest number of active cases, 306, and yesterday there was another coronavirus death in the city. This obliges the government to design strategies and that’s why we are holding this survey”.

The Maputo City delegate of the National Health Institute (INS), Edna Viegas, guaranteed that the Institute has sufficient human resources and funds to run the survey. All the INS staff involved have been well trained so as to avoid the risk that they too will become infected.

“Despite the territorial complexity of the capital, we have teams trained to use these materials, and to comply with preventive measures”, Viegas said. The teams consist of 84 people, trained to take the blood samples.

Viegas added that the INS has also trained 50 community mobilisers, who will work among the city’s communities to ensure that they take part in the survey.

The earlier surveys found that about five per cent of the population of Nampula city, and 2.5 per cent of the residents of Pemba, carry coronavirus antibodies and have thus been in contact with the virus.

Source: Lusa