2 NEW POSITIVE CASES CONFIRMED

MBABANE - The coronavirus pandemic has really hit home.  This follows the confirmation of two new positive cases; this time around being a health practitioner and a local woman who gave birth just on Tuesday.

This essentially means that Eswatini now has 12 confirmed positive cases of the coronavirus although six of them, according to the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, have been discharged.

Nkosi announced the two new cases yesterday afternoon during a press conference held at the Cabinet Offices. “Case number 11 is a man of 44 years from the Hhohho Region, a medical practitioner who tested positive, but we are yet to confirm the source of transmission,” said Nkosi.
Nkosi said this clinician presented with a fever, but no other symptom and was currently being monitored at home.

Sensitivity

Even though the minister did not state, the clinician, it was reliably gathered, is a doctor in one of the private clinics. However, they will not be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

She said the ministry was already conducting contact tracing for all those who  had been working with him and those he was working with (his clients) including colleagues, family and friends.

Nkosi said case number 12 was that of a 36-year-old woman of Manzini Region, who had no travel history outside the country, but had regular contact with a frequent traveller to South Africa.
The minister said the woman had mild symptoms with a cough, but no fever and had been tested on Saturday April 4, 2020.
Nkosi said the results were confirmed yesterday, a day after she had given birth.

“The ministry is taking all steps to ensure that all those who were in contact with her in the ward, all the health workers and mothers who were there and all the other workers in the hospital including her family and her other contacts are actively traced,” said Nkosi.

The minister said she and her baby were being moved to the Lubombo Referral Hospital where they would have a private room of their own. However, it was later gathered that the woman had given birth to twins. Nkosi further announced that six of the 12 had been discharged and they had tested negative.
She said out of the six, one person had been discharged from the Lubombo Referral Hospital to be monitored at home.

Nkosi, in her remarks, stated that the ministry would like to reemphasise the importance of cooperating with it. “All patients that have been confirmed and are positive have a duty to comply with the expectations to be registered for care with the COVID-19 Treatment Management team within the Ministry of Health,” said Nkosi.

She said any person who had tested positive outside the country had a duty to then report to the ministry that they had a certificate that showed that they were positive and call 977 to make sure that they were properly managed and could not infect others.

Nkosi requested the public to cooperate and work with the Rapid Response teams as they went out to actively find cases of COVID-19.  She said thus far they would like to pass their gratitude to those who had been cooperating with them and that the work would continue throughout the week, including the following one.

Masks

The minister further said all suspected cases of COVID-19 should wear masks both at home or while going out in public.
Nkosi said people who had colds should also wear masks to protect others from catching that cold. The minister said there were a variety of masks which were in the market that could be considered, in particular homemade ones.

She said homemade masks had the advantage in the fact that they could be washed in soap and water, be disinfected and be reused.
“Please wear a mask if you have a cold or if you are not feeling well and you are going out into the public,” she said.  She again reminded the public to please stay at home, if they did not have anywhere to go as this was the only way they could contain the virus.

She urged the public to wash their hands with soap and water regularly to make sure that they not only protected themselves, but those around them. Nkosi also reminded the public of the importance of covering one’s mouth whenever they sneezed or coughed to make sure that others were not infected.

“Remember to keep a distance from the people you are working and living with to make sure that you provide space so that you do not infect one another,” she said.

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