Mozambique: High Covid-19 recovery rate no reason for complacency – AIM report

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: High Covid-19 recovery rate no reason for complacency – AIM report

4:26 CAT | 13 Oct 2020

File photo: Lusa

The fact that over 70 per cent of those diagnosed in Mozambique with the Covid-19 respiratory disease have made a full recovery “does not mean that we should relax, much less take wrong attitudes towards measures of prevention”, warned the Deputy National Director of Public Health, Benigna Matsinhe, on Monday.

Speaking at a Maputo press conference, she insisted “We must remain active in prevention, and so we must sound the alert against the danger presented by crowds of people, with the interpersonal contacts and all the other attitudes that can allow the spread of Covid-19”.

“Let us remain firm in the fight against Covid-19, so as to ensure a continual resumption of all sectors of activity, in order to stimulate the economy and defend the jobs of many of our fellow citizens”, Matsinhe urged.

She pointed out that the number of diagnosed cases of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 has now passed the 10,000 mark, and the number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised remains at least 40 every day, many of them in a serious condition.

“We have about 2,500 active cases throughout the country”, she said. “There are almost 6.000 people in home quarantine and over 2,300 contacts of positive cases are being followed. These figures show that Covid-19 remains in our midst and we should all remain vigilant to prevent further worsening of the situation”.

Matsinhe reported a further death from Covid-19. The victim was a 51 year old Mozambican man hospitalised in Maputo. He was diagnosed as positive for the coronavirus last Wednesday. His condition did not improve and he died on Sunday. This brings the Covid-19 death toll in Mozambique to 72.

Over the previous 24 hours, three Covid-19 patients had been discharged from hospital, but four others were admitted, all in Maputo city. Matsinhe said there were now 43 people under medical care in the Covid-19 isolation wards, 42 of them in Maputo and one in Tete.

28 of those hospitalised are men and 15 are women. 17 of the patients are over 60 years old (and are thus regarded as particularly at risk). The condition of 26 of the patients is said to be moderate. 15 are in a serious condition, and two are critically ill. They are suffering from other chronic illnesses as well as Covid-19. 59 per cent have diabetes, and 28.2 per cent have high blood pressure.

Matsinhe said that, since the start of the pandemic, 155,202 people have been tested for the coronavirus, 1,287 of them in the previous 24 hours. All of these tests were administered in public facilities. 580 of the samples tested were from Zambezia, 196 from Sofala, 135 from Maputo province, 113 from Maputo city, 96 from Tete, 56 from Manica, 50 from Gaza, 27 from Cabo Delgado, 22 from Nampula, 10 from Inhambane and two from Niassa.

1,200 of the tests were negative, and 87 people tested positive for the coronavirus. This brings the total number of positive cases in Mozambique, since the first one was identified on 22 March, to 10,088.

86 of the new cases are Mozambicans and one is Zimbabwean. 48 are women or girls, and 39 are men or boys. 13 are children under the age of 15, and two are over 65 years old. No age information was available for nine cases.

42 of the cases are from Maputo province, and 17 are from Maputo city. Thus 68 per cent of the new cases are from Maputo city and province. There were also 10 cases from Cabo Delgado, nine from Zambezia, seven from Tete and two from Sofala. All of the new cases are now in home isolation, and their contacts are being traced.

Matsinhe said that, in the same 24 hour period, a further 212 people made a full recovery from Covid-19 (185 in Maputo city, 14 in Niassa, 10 in Inhambane and three in Cabo Delgado. The total number of recoveries now stands at 7,550 – which is 74.8 per cent of all positive cases diagnosed in the country.

As of Monday, the geographical breakdown of all 10,088 positive cases, by the provinces where they were diagnosed, was as follows: Maputo city, 4,673; Maputo province, 1,752; Cabo Delgado, 736; Zambezia, 720; Nampula, 587; Gaza, 368; Tete, 367; Sofala, 273; Inhambane, 264; Niassa, 236; Manica, 112.

Maputo city and province now account for 64 per cent of all positive cases diagnosed since the start of the pandemic, and 87 per cent of all currently active cases.

The key Covid-19 statistics for Mozambique are now: 10,088 confirmed cases, of whom 7,550 have made a complete recovery and 2,462 are active cases. 76 Covid-19 patients have died, 72 from the disease and four from other causes.

Source: AIM