17TH POSITIVE CASE CONFIRMED

MBABANE – The numbers are steadily increasing. Eswatini has since recorded the 17th positive case of a person who has contracted the coronavirus. Patient number 17 is a 36-year-old man from the Hhohho Region, who was confirmed positive yesterday.

Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi said the man had presented with moderate to severe pneumonia at a facility where he was admitted and started treatment before being evacuated to the Lubombo Referral Hospital for further management. The minister did not mention where the latest patient was being treated before being moved to the Lubombo facility.

She said as they had constantly been reporting to the public, it now meant that there were 17 cases of people who had tested positive and had been confirmed out of which eight of them had been treated and discharged.

“One of them passed away yesterday evening and the other seven are undergoing treatment, while the latest patient was undergoing admission processes,” she said. Nkosi said it was evident that more and more people were contracting the disease and therefore they were requesting that people who had been tested and found positive should cooperate with the ministry. She said positive patients had to comply with the expectation to be registered for care with the COVID-19 Case Management Team of the Ministry of Health.

She said they should agree to treatment so that they could protect their families and all others who lived with them.
The public was further requested by the ministry to cooperate with the Rapid Response Teams as they went about their duties to find contacts of positive cases.

Testing

She said they would call them, especially those who had travelled. She said in the next three days of the relaxed partial lockdown, they would continue to conduct testing and screen the members of the public in order to stop the disease from spreading. She said the public, should wash their hands with soap and water or use hand sanitiser and also observe social distancing. “We also encourage the public to stay at home if they do not have any necessary reason to travel,” she said.

She said if people needed to go out they should wear a mask or even if they were home and had a flu. Nkosi said in the next coming few days, emaSwati would be manufacturing the masks for sale and distribution.   She said they would provide the list of outlets which would sell the masks, but encouraged emaSwati to also make their own from home by using two layers of cotton cloths or material including emahiya.

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