Mozambique: Confirmed cases of mpox came from Malawi
Mozambique relaxes testing and stabilises the spread of Covid-19 – A Verdade
2:58 CAT | 07 Jul 2020
Photo: A Verdade
After the acceleration of the Covid-19 pandemic in June, when 635 positive cases were detected and the coronavirus spread to various districts in Mozambique, epidemiologist Eduardo Samo Gudo Júnior says that “we have seen in the last few days a trend towards the stabilisation of Covid-19, with an average of 27 cases per day”.
@Verdade understands that this “stabilisation” is related to the relaxation of testing particularly in the provinces of Nampula, Sofala and in the city of Maputo.
June, the fourth month of the new coronavirus pandemic in Mozambique, “closed with a total of 635 cases in 30 days, the highest number of cases so far, after 178 positive cases were registered in May”, the Deputy Director-General the National Institute of Health noted on Monday (July 7) in his weekly epidemiological balance.
“What we have seen in the last few days is that there is a tendency for Covid-19 to stabilise, with an average of 27 cases per day. However this stabilization has to be analysed with some caution, it has to be combined with the percentage of positivity and with the increase in the number of districts that have been reporting cases”, Dr Eduardo Samo Gudo Júnior said.
However @Verdade found that this “stabilisation” is part of a “new normal” resumption of economic activity strategy which aims to not scare Mozambicans with a greater acceleration of positive cases, so fewer suspected cases are being tested.
As an illustration, @Verdade learned that, although a Covid-19 laboratory has been operating in Beira City since the June 26th, the number of tests has not increased. None have been done.
The entry into operation of another laboratory, in the city of Nampula, is also not reflected in any increase in the number of tested cases. Three tests were performed on Saturday, 148 on Sunday and 88 on Monday, but government authorities ruled out mass testing, even in neighbourhoods where the greatest seropotivity was found, such as Natikire or Namutequeliua.
Community transmission criteria are not yet met in Maputo City
Epidemiological data show that the percentage of positivity in the most populous province of Mozambique is 11.5 percent. “On average, 1 in 10 samples from Nampula that we tested is positive”, Dr Samo Gudo admitted, while explaining to @Verdade that this rate cannot be extrapolated to all inhabitants of the northern capital. “It would be a serious error in epidemiology, because the surveillance carried out in the health units and the tracking of contacts is focused.”
“The probability of an individual being positive is greater in individuals who have symptoms, in those going to health units, or in individuals who have had contact with a positive case,” the epidemiologist notes.
He also clarified to @Verdade that community transmission was still not present in Maputo city. “The criteria are not yet met. If you look closely at the figures for the last seven days, you can see that there is a significant fluctuation that is not characteristic of community transmission,” he explained.
“On day one, 198 samples tested, none positive, day two, 35 tested, none positive, but when on day five, of 121 samples tested, 7 returned positive, a 5.8 positivity rate, then it means that there is no consistency yet. But it is worrying,” Dr Samo Gudo argues.
@Verdade however notes that the tests in Maputo city are only of suspected cases detected during surveillance in health facilities or the contacts of positive cases. Despite the fact that there are more than two dozen active transmission chains, of unknown origin, as in the rest of the country, the government is not performing mass testing in the country’s capital, which could diagnose thousands of asymptomatic individuals.
By Aderito Caldeira
“Há uma tendência estabilização da #covid19” no âmbito da estratégia do Governo #Nyusi de “novo normal” de retoma da actividade económica e que visa não assustar os moçambicanos com aceleração dos casos positivos por isso menos suspeitos são testados https://t.co/okWospTGJw pic.twitter.com/PH5U13bUR7
— Jornal a Verdade (@verdademz) July 7, 2020
Entrada em funcionamento de um laboratório na Cidade de Nampula também não se reflecte no aumento dos casos testados, no sábado foram feitos 3, domingo 148 na segunda 88 e autoridades descartaram testes em massa mesmo nos bairros com maior seropotividade https://t.co/okWospTGJw pic.twitter.com/KVzhZlzXXx
— Jornal a Verdade (@verdademz) July 7, 2020
Source: A Verdade
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