Mozambique: Mia Couto in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19

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Mozambique: Mia Couto in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19

2:55 CAT | 20 Jan 2021

Screen grab: STV

Mozambican writer and biologist Mia Couto tested positive for Covid-19.

“I tested positive a few days ago. I have mild symptoms, I have extreme tiredness, I have permanent body pain. I hope my situation is not serious. I am confined, I am isolated, but I want to take this opportunity to deliver a warning message: that we must form a common front. There are no more vulnerable and less vulnerable ones; nobody is safe from this disease,” Mia said, quoted by ‘O País’.

The writer says that when he learned that he was infected with Covid-19, he was very scared, and that it is only thanks to his family that he has accepted the new reality and hopes to overcome the disease.

Mia Couto yesterday gave an interview to Jornal da Noite at Stv about his friendship with journalist and advertising entrepreneur Mario Ferro , whose cause of death, O País reports, “is still an open question”.

The relationship between Mia Couto and Mário Ferro dates back to their childhood, and the two journalists later shared many moments together in the professional field. For that reason, Ferro’s death is all the more shocking.

“Mário crossed paths with me as a child in the city where I was born [Beira]. His father was already a journalist. None of us guessed that our lives would come together later. Between 1974 and 1975, during this transition period, we worked together and did something that was historic, without knowing how important it was for our lives and the life of the country. We made the triumphal trip from Rovuma to Maputo together, following the route that Samora Machel took to take possession in 1975,” Mia Couto recalls. “This cemented a great friendship. It was a great shock (to learn of Mário Ferro’s death)”

Mário Ferro died of cardio-respiratory arrest – family

The family of journalist and businessman Mário Ferro says there was no time to test him for Covid-19 before his death, but have nonetheless decided to observe funeral protocols reserved for victims of the new coronavirus.

Mário Ferro fell ill last Thursday, shortly after he received the news that his daughter, who lived in Portugal, had died. He died on Monday.

Because he was hypertensive, the family called the doctor, which was usual in such circumstances. Care was first given to him at home, and his condition stabilised during the weekend, but worsened on Monday. In addition to being hypertensive, the journalist and businessman was a smoker, factors which increase vulnerability to Covid-19, his son Mauro Ferro notes.

The family called the doctor again, the situation becoming more delicate, and decided on his hospitalisation, much against Mário’s liking. He was finally persuaded, and put on oxygen.

With the hospitals full, the family reports that it was difficult to find a Covid-19 bed, but the Private Hospital of Maputo offered treatment, even if outside its facilities.

“At this point, my father was awake and in a good mood, even joking about who was going to pay the hospital bills. But, 40 minutes later, they called us to say that he had died,” Mauro Ferro relates.

The time between his arrival at the hospital and his death was so short that he was unable to take the Covid-19 test, but the family have nonetheless decided to observe funeral protocols appropriate for victims of the new coronavirus.

“We have created a visiting area outside the house. People have to warn us before coming to the house and we try to manage [the situation]. If people want to come and say hello, especially to my mother, she is inside and receives one person at a time with the necessary social distancing. Those who come to give a family hug stay outside, for about 10 to 15 minutes,” Mauro Ferro explained.

The cremation takes place today, following all protocols to prevent contamination.

Source: O País