Authorities in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, are concerned over the people relaxing their observance of anti-coronavirus measures put in place to fight the pandemic.
Speaking at a working session on Friday with officials in-charge of the COVIDOVID-19 response in North Kivu, Dr Michel Kaswa Kayomo, a member of the technical secretariat of the multisectoral committee for the fight against the coronavirus, urged his colleagues to intensify sensitisation campaigns as a second wave of the virus loomed.
“In preventing the second wave of the virus which today has hit countries in the west and which can also arrive in our country, I was sent here in Goma by Prof. Jean-Jacques Muyembe (Director-General of the Democratic Republic of Congo National Institute for Biomedical Research) so that the country can be ready,” Kayomo said.
“After learning from the peak season you went through between June and July, we must ensure that the country is ready to face any eventual recrudescence of COVIDOVID-19 cases.”
North Kivu has recorded 152 deaths out of 1,186 COVID-19 cases, giving a death rate of 12.8 per cent per cent.
Twenty-one of the 34 health zones in North Kivu has been affected by the coronavirus infection.
“This virus is sly. It is vicious. This virus is going to live with us and we are going to live with it for quite some time. It is left for us to adapt to it.
“We must at all times respect the preventive measures. We are feeling a relaxation of the measures. This is not the time to relax,” Kayomo added.
“We must maintain the same efforts, that is to say, the respect of preventive measures, the reduction in the time of meetings, the wearing of masks and the ventilation of meeting and lecture halls in order to protect ourselves and our children who go to school.”
Since the arrival of the COVIDOVID-19 pandemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo on March 20, the country has recorded 11,732 cases with 319 deaths and 11,026 patients successfully treated and discharged from hospital.
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