Watch: Beira mayor evacuated to South Africa due to worsening health condition – O País

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Watch: Beira mayor evacuated to South Africa due to worsening health condition – O País

1:04 CAT | 15 Feb 2021

File photo: CMB

The family of mayor of Beira Daviz Simango, who is ill with Covid-19, have transferred him to neighbouring South Africa for health care since his condition worsened last Friday, O País reports.

Information that the president of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique and mayor of Beira municipality was ill began to circulate on Sunday morning.

STV captured the moment when an MDM delegation went to Mavalane international airport to meet Lutero Simango, who was arriving in Maputo from Beira City.

“We confirm that the mayor of the City of Beira and president of the MDM is not in good health, and yesterday, (Saturday 13-02) around 9:00 p.m., he was evacuated to South Africa, but his health status is stable,” said Lutero Simango, the mayor’s brother and head of the parliamentary bench of the MDM in the Assembly of the Republic.

Lutero called for calm and promised updates on his brother’s health status. “It is likely that, in the coming days, I will travel to South Africa to visit him. We took this measure as a precaution,” Lutero Simango added.

Lutero Simango said his brother had been feeling unwell for a week.

“His malaise has to do with this [Covid-19] pandemic that is plaguing the country and the world. He felt sick and started receiving treatment, but unfortunately, prior to yesterday (Friday) his condition was not very good, and although yesterday (Saturday) in the late afternoon it was showing some signs of improvement, his evacuation to South Africa was decided as a precautionary measure,” he explained.

The mayor’s brother expressed gratitude for the support his family had received

“As a family, we are calm. We just have to thank everyone who, from the first hour, gave their due support. I speak of the medical team and all the health personnel of the City of Beira, who were always present and, until yesterday (Saturday), up until minutes before the flight, gave their full support,” he concluded.

According to an earlier Lusa report citing “family sources”, Daviz Simango’s wife had tested positive for Covid-19, but his own text had not yet come back.

Daviz Simango is serving his fourth consecutive term as mayor of Beira. His first term was in 2004, when he ran as a member of the Renamo party. He ran for a second term as an independent and, in the last two elections, as a member of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique, the party he founded and of which he is president.

Source: O País / STV via Sala da Paz