Mozambique is now facing a cholera outbreak after Cyclone Freddy hit the country for a second time.
OVER 19 000 CONFIRMED CHOLERA CASES
There were over 19,000 confirmed cases of cholera across the country from 27 March.
National Institute of Health director-general Eduardo Sam Gudo Jr reported there were 600 new confirmed cases a day in the Quelimane district. According to data from the Ministry of Health, at least 31 died of cholera in Zambezia. Over 3 200 were hospitalised between 15 and 29 March.
According to INGD, over eighty health centers in total were affected by Cyclone Freddy.
“We are working in parts of the hospital that were not destroyed. Some colleagues are working outside in the open because there’s not enough space available for everyone.”
Since the its return, it has been confirmed that more than 350 000 people in Malawi have been displaced in the aftermath of Cyclone Freddy.
It has caused more than 570 deaths in southern Africa. According to the UN, the cyclone affected more than half a million people in Malawi. The cyclone first struck southern Africa in late February when it hit Madagascar and Mozambique.
As previously reported, rescue workers warned that they are expecting to find more victims as they are looking through destroyed neighbourhoods for survivors. The government said the army and police were leading search and rescue operations.
Cyclone Freddy reached Malawi in March, after sweeping through Mozambique at the weekend. With what meteorologists described as a “rare” route, it headed back towards Madagascar before moving once more towards Mozambique.
Source: thesouthafrican
