The Deputy General Director of Mozambique’s National Health Institute (INS), Eduardo Samo Gudo, has announced the decision of the government of Mozambique to keep in force all the restrictive measures imposed to halt the spread of the Covid-19 respiratory disease which is now in its third wave.
Speaking on Tuesday, April 6 2021, the Deputy General Director applauded the maintenance of the restrictions as a prudent course to take. The measures in place as confirmed by President Filipe Nyusi include a ban on religious services, political gatherings, and most forms of private gatherings. Bars in the country are to remain closed alongside casinos, night clubs, and gymnasiums. This is in addition to a curfew in place from 22.00 to 04.00 which has been imposed in the Greater Maputo Metropolitan Area, and all other provincial capitals.
Interviewed by Radio Mozambique, Samo Gudo explained that with the advent of a third wave of the pandemic which some countries are beginning to experience, it was not the time to relax the Covid-19 prevention measures.
“There’s no doubt that the world has entered the third wave. It’s in Europe and America, and in Africa, several countries, including Kenya, are facing a third wave” he said.
Adding that certain countries were facing a new wave of the pandemic because they had relaxed their restrictive measures too early, he noted that the purpose of Mozambique’s restrictive measures was precisely to avoid the early appearance of a third wave, which could be more severe than the previous waves. In his words, he said:
“The risk of reopening the economy when the second wave is still underway is that we will find ourselves in a third wave, more severe than the previous ones”.
