OVER EASTER

The Mozambican health authorities on Monday urged all Mozambicans and tourists to avoid crowds during the impending Easter festivities. Speaking at a Maputo press conference, the Deputy National Director of Public Health, Benigna Matsinhe, said she recognized the importance of Easter for Christians and that traditionally these celebrations in Mozambique involve “an enormous migratory movement characterized by the entry of our citizens who live or work in South Africa, and of tourists from that neighbouring country”. Matsinhe pointed out that, under the regulations to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 respiratory disease, all churches remain closed and large scale religious ceremonies are suspended. Furthermore, the country’s beaches are closed to swimmers (though not to walkers, provided they maintain social distancing). She appealed to all the Christian faithful and to tourists “to avoid crowds over this period, so that there is no dissemination of Covid-19”.

“Our country is making an enormous effort to hold back the spread of Covid-19”, Matsinhe added, “and the results are visible. We should hold on to the gains we have made by complying strictly with the preventive measures decreed by the authorities”. Updating the media on the current state of the Mozambican epidemic, Matsinhe said that in the previous 24 hours, a further five people had died of Covid-19, and 95 new cases were reported.

The latest victims were three men and two women, all Mozambican citizens, and aged between 39 and 76. Two had died in Nampula, and one each in Maputo city, Maputo province and Inhambane. This brings the total Covid-19 death toll in Mozambique to 769. Since the start of the pandemic, 477,794 people have been tested for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, 1,233 of them in the previous 24 hours. Of the samples tested, 313 came from Maputo city, 244 from Nampula, 144 from Maputo province, 127 from Inhambane, 97 from Niassa, 88 from Gaza, 86 from Sofala, 84 from Tete, and 50 from Cabo Delgado. No tests were reported from Zambezia or Manica. 1,138 of the tests gave negative results, while 95 people tested positive for the coronavirus. This brings the total number of Covid-19 cases diagnosed in Mozambique to 67,292.Monday’s positivity rate (the proportion of people tested found to be carrying the virus) was 7.7 per cent – which is in line with the rates found over the previous few days (11.5 per cent on Sunday, 5.4 per cent on Saturday, 7.9 per cent on Friday, 7.1 per cent on Thursday, and 10.1 per cent on Wednesday) .

 

 Matsinhe said that 92 of the cases reported on Monday are Mozambican and two are foreigners (but she did not give their nationality). In one case, nationality has yet to be confirmed. 56 are men or boys and 39 are women or girls. Four are children under the age of 15, and six are over 65 years old. For three cases, no age information was available. 25 of the new cases were from Nampula, 21 from Maputo city and 20 from Sofala. There were also nine cases from Gaza, six from Inhambane, six from Niassa, four from Gaza, three from Cabo Delgado and one from Tete. In the same 24 hour period, two Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospital, both in Zambezia, and one new case was admitted (in Tete). As of Monday, 99 people were under medical care in the Covid-19 wards (down from 105 on Sunday). Almost two thirds of these, 62, were in Maputo. There were also 13 patients in Zambezia, eight in Nampula, five in Sofala, four in Inhambane, four in Matola, two in Tete, and one in Gaza. There were no patients in the Covid-19 isolation facilities in Cabo Delgado, Niassa or Manica. Matsinhe said that 63 of those hospitalised are men and 36 are women. 50 are aged 60 years and above, while 28 are in the 45-59 year age bracket. She described the condition of 50 of the patients as “moderate” – but 41 are seriously ill, and eight are in a critical condition. 84 are receiving supplementary oxygen while eight are on ventilators in intensive care units.

Matsinhe said that a further 96 people made a complete recovery from Covid-19 on Monday (45 in Manica, 26 in Nampula, 14 in Zambezia and 11 in Inhambane). This brings the total number of recoveries to 55,371, or 82.3 per cent of all those ever diagnosed with Covid-19 in Mozambique.The number of active Covid-19 cases is now 11,148 (down slightly from the Sunday figure of 11,154). The geographical distribution of these cases was as follows: Maputo city, 8.781 (78.8 per cent of the total); Maputo province, 1,286; Sofala, 297; Nampula, 191; Inhambane, 187; Niassa, 182; Cabo Delgado, 101; Tete, 42; Gaza, 41; Manica, 28; and Zambezia, 12.