Home | News | ESWATINI NOW AT GREAT RISK OF CORONAVIRUS

ESWATINI NOW AT GREAT RISK OF CORONAVIRUS

08/03/2020 00:55:00 BY MFANUKHONA NKAMBULE

Font size:

mfanukhona@times.co.sz

MBABANE – South Africa’s confirmation of a second case of coronavirus yesterday poses a great risk to Eswatini.

Dr Simon Zwane, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health, said their counterparts in South Africa informed them about the case, which he appealed to emaSwati to take it seriously.

The PS said non-essential travels to that country should be minimised.
“In the meantime, emaSwati should go to South Africa when there’s a strong need to go there. But, non-essential travels to that country should be minimised,” advised Dr Zwane.

He said it was everyone’s obligation to inform the ministry of their visits to countries with cases of coronavirus.
“It’s now a risk to travel to South Africa,” he said.

information

He added: “In case you have been to Italy, China or any affected country, kindly take full responsibility and alert us.”
Dr Zwane said it was possible to put the virus under control if was detected early.

“Over 90 000 people are infected but over 3 000 have died. The mortality rate is three-four per cent,” he said.
The first diagnosis was confirmed on Thursday in South Africa. The patient is in quarantine in Grey’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg.

Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize confirmed South Africa’s second case of coronavirus in a statement yesterday. The patient is a 39-year-old woman from Gauteng who came into contact with the first confirmed case from KwaZulu-Natal.

Eswatini is sandwiched by South Africa. Mkhize mentioned that the 39-year-old woman from Gauteng was part of the group of 10 people who had travelled to Italy. The minister also confirmed that a 39-year-old male South African working in Daegu, South Korea, had also tested positive for Covid-19. He was due to return to South Africa but had since remained in South Korea.

“The public must be notified that we have information and know the whereabouts of all the other 10 people who were part of the group that had travelled to Italy. All those who came back to SA are currently being tested. We are now awaiting their test results to come out.” Mkhize said

He mentioned that the second patient who tested positive for Covid-19 would immediately be admitted to a public health facility in Gauteng that the government had identified as one of the hospitals that were ready to receive infected patients.

surveillance system

“We are now following all the protocol that we have already publicly announced to the public in dealing with this case. We will keep the public fully informed on all relevant developments,” the SA minister said.

In the first case of coronavirus, it was reported that the 38-year-old man from Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal, tested positive for the virus, three days after returning from a holiday in Italy last Sunday, becoming the country’s first confirmed case of the deadly virus.

Back to Eswatini, the principal secretary said the two cases meant that the country should strengthen its surveillance system at the entry points (borders and airports). He mentioned that the probability of more infections in SA was high, urging emaSwati to observe basic protective measures against the virus. He advised them to stay up to date with the latest information on the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak.

“We have to know who enters and exits the country, where is he going to and where’s he coming from?” said the principal secretary.

He said the country’s equipment to deal with the outbreak should be added. He also urged people to heed to the warnings, such as regularly and thoroughly cleaning hands with soap and water.

Dr Zwane advised that people should maintain social distancing between themselves and anyone coughing or sneezing. He recommended coughing or sneezing into a tissue and then throwing it away or sneezing into upper shirt sleeve.

The principal secretary said emaSwati should take precautions as if the virus was already prevalent in the country.
“In case the virus hits us, we must be fully prepared and ready to deal with it,” he said. He called for enhanced collaborations among key stakeholders, the media, ministry, communities, NGOs so that there was information flow. He hoped Parliament would grant the ministry the required E100 million to put measures to fight the virus.
It must be said that the new coronavirus is spreading fast.

To be precise, reports indicate that more than 102 000 people are known to be infected, and more than 3 400 deaths have been recorded worldwide.

symptoms

The bulk of new cases being recorded each day are now outside China, and the virus is spreading at some speed across Europe. There have now been 163 confirmed cases in the United Kingdom.
An elderly person with underlying health issues became the first person in Britain to die having been diagnosed with the disease, Royal Berkshire NHS Trust confirmed on Thursday.

Experts have been warning for years that the world is overdue a major disease outbreak, but there is much that individuals can do to protect themselves and others.

What is coronavirus?

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause disease in animals. Seven, including the new virus, have made the jump to humans, but most just cause common cold-like symptoms.

Two coronaviruses – Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) – are much more severe, having killed more than 1 500 people between them since 2002.

The new virus, officially known as Covid-19, is also more dangerous than the common cold. So far, around 15 to 20 per cent of hospital cases have been classed as ‘severe’ and the current death rate varies between 0.7 per cent and 3.4 per cent depending on the location and, crucially, access to good hospital care.

This is much lower than Mers (30 per cent) or Sars (10 per cent), but still a significant threat.
Scientists in China believe that Covid-19 has mutated into strains, one more aggressive than the other, which could make developing a vaccine more complicated.

What are the symptoms of the new coronavirus?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the main symptoms of the coronavirus usually include:

l    A dry cough
l    A high temperature
l    Tiredness
l    Shortness of breath (in more severe cases)
Some patients may have ‘aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhoea’, the WHO adds. These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. Some people become infected but do not develop any symptoms and do not feel unwell.

Health professionals say these symptoms are similar to other respiratory diseases including flu and the common cold.

People with symptoms should consider the following:
l Have you travelled to a high risk area such as China, South Korea or Northern Italy in the last two weeks?

l Have you been in close contact with someone with coronavirus?

How quickly do symptoms emerge?
The health professionals say symptoms are thought to appear between two and 10 days after contracting the virus, but it may be up to 24 days.

Most people (about 80 per cent) recover from the disease without needing special treatment. However, around one out of every six people (16 per cent) becomes seriously ill and develops difficulty breathing.

Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems, lung complaints or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness.