Ver Angola

Health

Covid-19: Health Minister warns of worsening in May

The Health Minister warned on Friday that the number of infections with the new coronavirus in May had worsened, ruling out that the virus cannot resist the heat and that the black race would be better prepared to face the disease.

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"It was thought that there were some genetic factors at an early stage in relation to the black race, the temperature, but covid-19 has already shown that it has overcome all these barriers. We already have covid-19s in Africa and the situation could get worse from May, because the temperature starts to drop and the possibility of people being infected at that time is greater", warned Silvia Lutucuta, in the balance of the first week of the state of emergency in Angola.

The minister reaffirmed that measures to control the epidemic must be taken now so that the worst-case scenario, based on projections from the World Health Organization (WHO), does not materialise.

Based on these projections, the authorities have predicted the peak of the pandemic with around 10,000 cases in June, of which 15 percent with mild manifestations and 5 percent, or 500 people, may have serious health complications or die, but "it's all very unpredictable," she said.

"We learn every day, we don't know what it will be like, if there's eventually community transmission [in Angola] what the behaviour of covid-19 will be in our reality," he added, recalling that there are other diseases like malaria to consider.

The minister also spoke about calling on retired health professionals, saying that some who came "voluntarily" and others will add "their strength" to the fight against covid-19 "in the line of duty.

A contingent of Cuban doctors is also expected to arrive in the country next week, and contacts with China are being developed in the same direction.

The Ministry of Health is also strengthening intensive care facilities to support patients, and 380 ventilators are being purchased for the whole country, as well as 'accelerated training' for technicians.

Tests manufactured in England are also being purchased 'for mass testing', with the reference laboratory only confirming.

"We believe that in April we will make a very big leap in our diagnostic capacity," she said.

The minister hopes to begin the phase of random sampling, to understand whether or not there is community circulation of the virus, at the end of next week, directed to places of high concentration and hospitals.

Samples were also collected from all citizens who are in institutional quarantine and on Saturday or Sunday the "results for all" should be known, she said.

Angola has so far registered eight positive cases of the disease, including two deaths.

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