Mozambique largest daily newspaper sees increase in pages dedicated to obituaries

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Mozambique largest daily newspaper sees increase in pages dedicated to obituaries

4:41 CAT | 10 Feb 2021

File photo: Lusa

Jornal Notícias, Mozambique’s largest daily newspaper, has since the start of the year seen a dramatic increase in obituary announcements, coinciding with the sharp rise in the number of Covid-19 fatalities.

“The situation that we are experiencing here, because of Covid-19, gives us the perception that there are more obituaries, because of deaths related to the pandemic,” Isabel Boavida, commercial director of the newspaper, told Lusa.

Although some families report the cause of death in obituaries (for example, Covid-19), others do not, but the increase in the obituary pages is obvious to anyone who picks up the newspaper.

Isabel Boavida said that Notícias had, since the beginning of the year, printed on average four pages of obituaries, a number uncommon in the daily, despite having arisen from time to time.

“It is not the first time that we have these numbers, because it happens from time to time, but it has been more frequent in recent weeks,” she emphasised.

The death of influential people has also contributed to this growth.

“Normally, when it comes to someone important in Mozambican society, there are more people paying homage to the deceased, and the obituary [section] is in more demand,” she said.

By Tuesday, February 9, Mozambique had registered 465 Covid-19 deaths and 44,912 cases, with 61% considered recovered, and 318 patients currently hospitalised – 79% of them in the city of Maputo.

Source: Lusa