Times Of Swaziland: ESWATINI INVESTIGATES 2 CORONAVIRUS CASES

ESWATINI INVESTIGATES 2 CORONAVIRUS CASES
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BY MELISA MSWELI and STANLEY KHUMALO on 12/03/2020 01:32:00


MBABANE – The country has registered two suspected coronavirus cases.
This was confirmed by Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi in a statement she
released yesterday.
According to the statement, the first case is of a 39-year-old woman who has a
history of taking trips outside the country.
Signs are said to have started 14 days after her return to the country on March
7, 2020. She is said to have travelled to Denmark.
The second patient, according to the statement, is a 38-year-old female who had
visitors from Germany two weeks ago. The visitors are said to have reported
respiratory issues while in the country and left shortly thereafter.
Both suspected patients have been isolated according to the minister.
The minister further stated that their samples were taken for testing.
“The Rapid Response Team is closely following them frequently and monitoring
their clinical condition while waiting for the laboratory results,” reads part
of the statement.
The ministry then requested those who had recent travel to affected countries
within the last two weeks to report to health facilities immediately for care
should they not feel well while those who do not feel ill are encouraged to
socially isolate themselves for 14 days.
Confirmed
It should be noted that currently, the kingdom has no confirmed cases of the
virus though there have been scares.
Meanwhile, the country is on high-alert as South Africa confirmed six more
people infected with the novel coronavirus.
This brings the total number of individuals with covid-19, in South Africa to
13. This was disclosed by the Minister of Health in the republic, Zwelini Mkhize
yesterday morning.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health in Eswatini Dr Simon Zwane also
confirmed knowledge of the latest statistics by the SA Government.
Dr Zwane said the Republic of South Africa had informed the local Ministry of
Health about the increased number of confirmed cases. Given the recent update,
Dr Zwane said, this meant that the local citizenry should be on high alert.
“They informed us and given their proximity from us, we are on high alert and
so should the citizenry,” Dr Zwane said.
He said the public should desist from the societal norms of shaking hands when
greeting and further avoid interacting with people who were suffering from a
bout of flu. Furthermore, Dr Zwane pleaded with people who were living with
HIV/AIDS and not yet enrolled on the antiretroviral treatment (ART) to be very
cautious as their immune system was compromised.
“The same goes for people who are living with diabetes; their immune system is
compromised and they are more susceptible to the virus,” he said.  On the
other hand, he said studies were ongoing to establish if those enrolled on ART
were safe. For now, Dr Zwane said: “It is unknown if their systems could
withstand the virus; therefore, it is very important for everyone to be
proactive and do all they can to be hygienic.”
Meanwhile, leading to the recent addition of six people confirmed to be infected
with COVID -19 in South Africa, there had been seven other confirmed cases that
involve people who were part of a group of 10 who returned from Italy at the
beginning of March.
Confirming
The added six cases were individuals who had all travelled to Europe during
March. When confirming the additional six cases, Dr Mkhize said four other cases
had been confirmed in Gauteng which includes a 33-year-old female who had
travelled to Italy and returned on March 1, 2020.
Another was of a couple, a 34-year-old male and a 33-year-old female who had
travelled to Germany. They are said to have returned to South Africa on Monday,
March 9, 2020.
Also, another diagnosed individual was a 57-year-old male who had travelled to
Austria and Italy. He was reported to have returned to South Africa this past
Monday as well. A South African online publication, Business Insider, further
reported that one additional case in KwaZulu-Natal was of a 40-year-old male who
had travelled to Portugal. The publication reported that he returned on March 7,
2020.
Travelled
It was also reported that one other case in the Western Cape was of a
36-year-old male who had travelled to multiple countries including Germany,
Austria, Switzerland and Turkey. This individual was said to have returned to
South Africa this past Monday. The publication quoted Mkhize as having said some
of these patients were already in hospital while some, specifically those who
were asymptomatic, were in self-quarantine. “Contact tracing has also started
for all these cases,” he said.
Mkhize was further quoted as having said to date, 645 tests had been conducted
in South Africa. The publication reported that the Gauteng covid-19 patient was
in a critical state as he battled renal disease.
“One of the 13 South Africans, who tested positive for the coronavirus, has
renal disease and is in a critical condition,” the Gauteng Health Department
said yesterday, according to Business Insider. It further said the man had
comorbidity, meaning the presence of one or more conditions in addition to the
primary condition.
Furthermore, the publication reported that a Gauteng Province-based woman had
been discharged from hospital.