Mozambique: Fight on health and economic fronts, says PM – AIM report

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Mozambique: Fight on health and economic fronts, says PM – AIM report

4:26 CAT | 19 Jun 2020

Photo: Noticias

Mozambican Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario on Thursday called on the authorities in the northern province of Nampula to be on full alert due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but not to neglect the economy.

He was speaking immediately after his arrival at Nampula airport, for the start of a three day visit.

Nampula City is the area of Mozambique worst hit by Covid-19, with over 200 cases diagnosed. According to the Health Ministry it is the only part of the country where the disease has reached the phase of community transmission. Rosario said that, under these circumstances, it is essential to mobilise the public to follow the measures decreed by the government under the current state of emergency.

“Continued mobilisation so that physical and social distancing is effectively complied with, and reducing internal mobility is not an easy task”, admitted the Prime Minister. “But people should understand that the situation is serious”.

Rosario also stressed the need for personal hygiene, the correct use of face masks and cooperation with the health authorities in the epidemiological survey that was launched in Nampula city on Wednesday. The data gathered in the survey could be crucial in drawing up a strategy to break the chain of community transmission of Covid-19.

At the same time, he added, care must be taken to ensure that the Mozambican economy is not paralysed.

“We are saving lives, but we must also make our economy work”, Rosario said. “The government’s Five Year Programme must be complied with. It cannot stop because of the challenge posed by the pandemic”.

The Prime Minister described the terrorist attacks in the neighbouring province of Cabo Delgado as a problem that affects all Mozambicans, and everything should be done to fight the terrorists. The conflict in Cabo Delgado has impacted Nampula, because thousands of people displaced by the terrorists have fled over the provincial boundary into Nampula.

“We know that Nampula faces challenges arising from the terrorism in Cabo Delgado, where the population cannot produce freely, and cannot live in their normal homes”, he said. “We’ve come here to ask that we find correct approaches so that the lives of the displaced people may continue”

Source: AIM