Mbabane: There have been no COVID-19 related deaths reported in recent weeks as Eswatini enters the fourth wave of infections this month.
Statistics from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare indicate that there has been a marked increase in new cases of infections in the last week.
The Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi has announced that since the beginning of the, starting on Monday, November 29, 2021, until Thursday, December 2, 2021, there have been 379 cases of the deadly virus recorded. The numbers started with 44 cases on Monday culminating with 164 on Thursday. The number of recoveries stands at 5 cases.
Nkosi says “this sustained increase in COVID-19 cases shows that the country is entering the fourth wave.” The overall number of COVID-19 related deaths in Eswatini since the pandemic started in February 2020 is 1 248 and the total number of confirmed cases stands at 46 917.
The Minister has encouraged people to get vaccinated as vaccines protect people from severe illness and reduce the chances of people dying. At the moment there have been no incidents of anybody contracting the newly discovered Omicron variant that is pervasive in neighboring South Africa.
South Africa is being hit by the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections driven by the Omicron variant which has been detected in seven of the country’s nine provinces. Omicron, which has raised global fears of a surge in infections, was first detected in southern Africa last month and has prompted governments across continents to impose travel curbs and take other measures to contain it.
Omicron has been listed as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and scientists are still gathering data to establish how contagious Omicron is, and the severity of the illness it causes. Given the continued and increasing rate of infection, it is likely that fourth-wave restrictions will come into effect at some point during the festive season or very early in 2022.
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