Mozambique: January is the cruellest month – Watch

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Mozambique: January is the cruellest month – Watch

5:44 CAT | 02 Feb 2021

Screen grab: MISAU

January was the month when the Covid-19 epidemic in Mozambique appeared to spiral out of control, with all key indicators – cases, deaths, hospitalisations – doubling.

Giving the grim statistics at a Maputo press conference on Monday, the Deputy National Director of Public Health, Benigna Matsinhe, said that between 22 March last year, when the first Covid-19 case was identified, to 31 December, 18,642 cases of the disease had been diagnosed.

By the end of January, the figure had more than doubled, to 38,654. In a month, 20,012 cases had been diagnosed, at an average of 645 new cases a day. In just one month. 51.7 per cent of all cases in Mozambique were diagnosed.

On 31 December, there were only 1,806 active Covid-19 cases in the country. By the end of January, the figure had reached 14,328 – an increase of over 693 per cent in a mere 31 days. The number of new Covid-19 cases has vastly outstripped the number of recoveries, and so by the end of January there were 12,522 more active cases than at the end of December.

The first Covid-19 death in Mozambique occurred on 25 May. By 31 December, 166 people had died from the disease. But in January there were 201 Covid-19 deaths. Thus January accounted for 54.8 per cent of all the deaths.

By 31 December, 801 people had been hospitalised with Covid-19 (although the great majority recovered after a few days). But by 31 January, the number of people cared for in the Covid wards had risen to 1,688. In one month, 887 patients had been hospitalised, and at the end of January 305 people were still under medical care in those wards.

These figures, Matsinhe said, “shows the challenge we still face in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic”. She urged all Mozambicans to follow the basic Covid-19 prevention measures – such as regular hand washing, or disinfection with alcohol-based gels, avoiding crowds, and maintaining a distance of at least two metres between individuals.

In addition, she added, citizens should adopt healthy habits (such as a diet rich in fruit and vegetables) to boost the body’s immune system, which will strengthen the natural defences against all diseases, including Covid-19.

Matsinhe did not explain why the Covid-19 situation had deteriorated so dramatically in January. The presence in Mozambique of the strain of the coronavírus first identified in South Africa, which is more easily transmitted than the original virus, may be part of the explanation.

But the disastrous impact of the festive season should not be overlooked. During the Christmas and New Year holidays, Mozambicans let their guard down. Television footage of New Year’s Eve parties across the country showed reckless behavior, with crowds of people in close proximity, almost none of them wearing masks.

Even today, despite the spiraling numbers of death and disease, and the repeated warnings from the Health Ministry, citizens continue to walk the streets of the major cities without masks, and cram onto overcrowded buses and minibuses. If such behavior continues unchecked, February may be no better than January.

Source: AIM