UK, South Africa coronavirus variants reported in Angola
Friday March 12 2021
A man gets a Covid-19 vaccine. Angola has recorded cases of the UK and South Africa Covid-19 variants. PHOTO | POOL | AFP
Angola announced early this week that it had recorded seven cases of the South African Covid-19 variant, six of the UK and four others that were still under investigation.
Health Minister Sílvia Lutucuta told journalists that the 17 coronavirus cases were passengers coming from abroad between January to date, whose test samples were collected at Aeroporto Internacional 4 de Fevereiro, the main international airport in Luanda.
Ms Lutucuta reaffirmed the need to follow preventive measures such as avoiding social gatherings to stem the spread of the virus.
The Angolan government said it will take other precautions in the coming days to stem the spread of the new variants. Domestic and international travels are currently allowed.
As at March 8, Angola had recorded a total of 21,108 coronavirus cases with 19,657 recoveries and 936 cases still active. It had also recorded 515 deaths.
Angola recorded its first two cases of the coronavirus on March 21, 2020 in two people who had returned from Portugal.
Meanwhile, 6,169 health personnel have already been inoculated from Covid-19 by day three of the campaign that began Saturday. In this phase of vaccinations, the country also targets people above 60 years old and those with chronic illnesses.
After the capital Luanda, the vaccination campaign will move to Benguela and Cabinda provinces.
Angola received 624,000 doses of Covid-19 jabs from the Covax initiative on March 2.
The country’s authorities plan to vaccinate 52 per cent of its 16 million population.