The field hospital, which will have a capacity of 200 beds, is prepared to receive patients with covid-19, and in the post-pandemic period it will be used for medical and medication assistance to patients with cholera, yellow fever and other pathologies.
Speaking to Lusa, José Jimy Nhunga, the director of the provincial health office of that province, said that "the hospital is an asset, a specific place for covid-19 cases," although in Lunda Norte there is no record of contagion.
Lunda Norte, east of Angola, shares a vast land and river border of over 750 kilometres with the DRCongo.
According to him, the government of the province is keeping a close eye on the evolution of the pandemic in the neighbouring country, and one of the provinces of the DRC with geographical proximity to the municipality of Cuango, Lunda Norte, already has a positive case.
He assured that the surveillance of the borders, although closed, "continues to be reinforced" with police and Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) personnel, admitting, however, that "humanly there are no resources to control the entire extension".
"But we have been doing, at border posts, we have the borders closed, but there is a strengthening of surveillance with police and FAA personnel," he said.
With no positive cases, Lunda Norte has more than 15 people in institutional quarantine.
The first field hospital in the country, in the municipality of Viana, Luanda, was inaugurated on June 2 by the President, João Lourenço, and is already assisting patients with covid-19.
In addition to Luanda and Lunda Norte, the authorities guarantee to set up more field hospitals in the provinces of Zaire and Cabinda.
