COVID-19 Emergency
Covid pandemic broke out in Mozambique at the beginning of March, when the government declared a state of emergency closing borders, schools and forbidding every kind of meeting or event.
At the end of May, the number of cases hugely increased: 5.000 people tested positive and 35 died. However, the data are not 100% reliable because people can get swabbed only in Maputo and in a small area in Capo Delgado province, where there had been an outbreak of coronavirus. Moreover, just a small part of the symptomatic patients gets swabbed while many others do not because they live far from the hospitals or they actually do not believe that the virus is circulating in the country.
The government, through the Ministry of Health, has reinforced the safety measures imposing the compulsory use of masks in public places and forbidding and informal market. The last provision is destroying entire families whose income is often based on the small sales of local products.
Another big problem is the lack, even in the hospitals, of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and products for sanitization and personal hygiene.
In order to limit the spread of the virus as much as possible, PRO.SA Foundation is supporting the purchase of products for the sanitization of the places and for the personal care, together with the purchase of masks, latex gloves and face shields (PPE). This stuff will be distributed to the HIV-positive mothers from the Health Centre in Mangunde, to the cardiac patients admitted to Maputo Hospital and to the medical personnel of both the healthcare facilities.
At the time of delivery, patients will be informed and trained on the proper use of PPE and the steps to be taken to prevent contagion, protecting themselves and the others.
