Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi said on Tuesday that imposing more restrictions in the fight against Covid-19 would further retard the country’s development, and called for greater compliance with preventative measures already in force.
Even given the current scenario of increased deaths, hospitalisations and infections, “We do not want to continue confining, that this is interrupting development,” the president said in statements reproduced by the public broadcaster Radio Mozambique.
The head of state instead delivered a vehement appeal to the Mozambican people to strictly respect the country’s Covid-19 prevention measures.
“Please do not interrupt the country’s development,” he appealed.
More than a year after the first Covid-19 case was registered, no one in Mozambique can point to a lack of knowledge about pandemic prevention measures to justify permissive behaviour in relation to the disease, Nyusi said.
Currently experiencing the third wave, the country has the highest Covid-19 positivity rate on the African continent, now standing at 16.7%, according to the weekly epidemiological analysis released on Monday by the Ministry of Health.
By Tuesday, August 3, Mozambique had registered an accumulated total of 1.500 deaths and 126.391 cases, of which 76.3% are accounted recovered and 507 hospitalised.
The main Mozambican cities are under mandatory curfew, and face-to face classes are suspended in several cities and villages, while commerce, restaurants and services are operating to limited hours only in an effort to combat the pandemic.
