In a statement about the increase in cases of covid-19, the minister of State and head of the Military House of the President of the Republic, Francisco Furtado, said that the country has been registering a worsening of the epidemiological situation of covid-19.
"There is a growing trend of positive cases in the country, which gives us the feeling that we are facing a new strain of covid-19", said Francisco Furtado.
The government official stressed that the situation in the country "inspires care", leaving no doubt that this is the fourth wave of the covid-19 pandemic in Angola.
"There is a strong probability that we are facing the presence of a new variant of the virus, which could be the Omicron, which we cannot say yet because we do not have laboratory results from the tests sent to specialized laboratories abroad," he said.
Francisco Furtado said that the cases registered in Luanda in recent days, particularly on Tuesday, when 480 cases were registered, demonstrate that the capital, with 90% of cases notified in the last 48 hours, is the epicenter of the current situation.
"As an example, from yesterday to today, screenings were carried out in certain public institutions, hospitals, private clinics and health centers and the situation is quite worrying", he stressed.
The Minister of State and head of the Military House of the President of the Republic said that in the next few days a proposal for the Multisectorial Commission to amend some of the measures in force in Decree 280, in force since the 15th of this month and due to "relaxation", is expected. registered, by the behavior observed by the populations in the different sectors" a significant increase of covid-19 cases was predicted in the country.
"In general, we think that the measures contained in decree 280/21 of 29 November will remain valid until a possible update, however, we call attention to the measures that will be taken for inspection and punitive measures for those who do not comply with the measures. of biosecurity and of all the measures established in the presidential decree in force", he stressed.
In turn, the Angolan Health minister, Sílvia Lutucuta, said that the country registered, in the last 24 hours, 633 new cases, of which 604 in Luanda, three deaths, in people aged between 15 and 29, and 15 recovered.
"We are concerned about the growing and frightening number of cases that we have just presented and we are indeed very rapidly spreading the disease," she noted.
Sílvia Lutucuta said that the results on which strain is circulating in the country may soon be released.
"We believe that we can have the Omicron strain within us, as it can also be a new strain, so we must not let our guard down and remember that we have community circulation of the virus," she said.
The head of the Health folder said the reports in recent days of people with sore throat, fever, joint pain, runny nose, loss of smell and symptoms similar to other diseases, such as flu and malaria.
"We have been testing, many of these cases have tested positive, most are even covid-19 cases. That means that if you have these clinical manifestations you should go to the hospital", advised the minister.
The official said that the country has the capacity to test other viruses, in addition to covid-19, especially respiratory viruses, and so far, no case of HN1 or other similar viruses has been found in the samples tested.
Covid-19: Angola investigates presence of new strain or Omicron variant
Authorities have expressed concern about the exponential increase in covid-19 cases over the past five days, admitting the possibility of being in the presence of a new strain or the Omicron variant.
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