Eswatini COVID-19 cases now 24

Mbabane: Eswatini has recorded 2 more COVID-19 positive cases, which has seen the number of cases going up to 24.

This was announced by the Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi in a press statement at the cabinet offices in Mbabane today, April 20.

The Minister of Health announced that the ministry received 20 results of which 18 were negative and 2 of were positive.

Nkosi revealed that both cases which tested positive were from the Manzini Region.

Announcing the results the minister said the 23^rd case is a 60 year old female residing in the Manzini Region, who has been sick and being treated in one of the local private clinics. She has no travel history or any contact with confirmed cases.

“The 24^th case is a 23 year old male also from the same region who presented cough and fever. He has no history of travel or any contact with a confirmed case”, said the minister.

To date Eswatini has 24 covid-19 cases confirmed, eight cases have been treated, 13 are undergoing treatment, one has died and 2 are undergoing admission at the Lubombo Referral Hospital.

The minister of health said contact tracing has already stated for the confirmed case. She urged the public to adhere to the covid-19 regulations and take precautions as advised by the ministry and world health organization.

The ministry continues to urge the public to cooperate with rapid response teams as they go about their duties of finding contacts of positive cases.

Eswatini extended the partial lockdown by 21 days in a bid to halt the spread of Covid-19, an infectious disease caused by the new coronavirus. The disease causes respiratory illness with flu-like symptoms such as a dry cough, high fever, and in more severe cases, difficulty in breathing.

People can protect themselves by washing hands frequently, avoiding touching their faces, and avoiding close contact with (staying at least one meter away from) other people.

The coronavirus was first recorded in Wuhan, china, in December 2019, and rapidly spread to other parts of the world. According to statistics in the coronavirus global data as of April 20, 2020, 2:00pm there were 2,423,428 confirmed cases worldwide with 166,031 deaths and 635,761 recoveries since the outbreak over the past four months.