ESWATINI NOT READY TO DROP MASKS - WHO

MBABANE – “Eswatini is not yet ready for the lifting of (face) mask restrictions.”

This is according to World Health Organisation (WHO) Health Promotion Officer Dr Kevin Makadzange. This followed a statement made by South African Clinical Infectious Diseases Epidemiologist Abdool Karim, stating that South Africa was ready to lift the face mask restrictions. He said sanitising and the use of masks outdoors could be stopped but some restrictions would have to remain in place. In an interview with this publication, Dr Makadzange said in the kingdom, only 29 per cent of the population had vaccinated. He said it would not be a good idea for emaSwati to stop the wearing of masks as this was among the  important items needed  in order to ensure that people protected themselves from COVID-19.  He also said it would be a bad idea as there was an anticipation of a fifth wave, which had been predicted in winter.

Vaccinated

“We are anticipating a fifth wave around June and with the low number of vaccinated people in the country, I do not think Eswatini is near ready to lift wearing of face masks. The countries which have implemented this have high numbers of vaccinated people with some at about 90 per cent,” he said. He advised African countries not to follow how the Europeans dealt with COVID-19, but rather have each country deal with it according to its people and how they responded to the restrictions and efforts put in place to try and fight against COVID-19.  According to Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Dr Simon Zwane, wearing a face mask was one of the proven public health measures for preventing the transmission of COVID-19. He said this was why as long as the country had SARS-COV 2 circulating in communities; masks would remain an important element in the prevention package.

Emergence

“Lifting of masks is mainly dependent on emergence and circulation of new variants and vaccination coverage in that country. At the current moment, the emergence of new variants is still a threat as some countries are still experiencing a surge in the number of cases. Also, the national vaccine coverage is still below the target of 70 per cent. This implies that our vulnerable population is still at risk of getting COVID-19. Vulnerable populations include the unvaccinated, people living with comorbidities such as HIV, TB, cancer and other NCD,” he said.

He mentioned that the ministry was working with WHO and other global public health organisations in monitoring the global development in this area. Thembi Dlamini shared a similar view with the health practitioners. According to her, the only time the restrictions needed to be lifted was when about 90 per cent of the population had vaccinated. “I do not think that comparing ourselves to other countries is right, especially because we do not have the same numbers in terms of those who have vaccinated. Can we wait until those who have not vaccinated do so,” she said.

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