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Lesotho has confirmed its first case of coronavirus, becoming the last country in Africa to register the virus.
The mountain kingdom is completely surrounded by South Africa, which has 11,350 cases of Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.
The only case was the result of tests carried out on 81 travelers from South Africa and Saudi Arabia, the health ministry said in a statement.
For weeks there have been questions about how Lesotho had managed to avoid the disease despite the frequent movement of people between the two neighbors.
Hundreds of thousands of Basotho work in South Africa.
The border closed when both countries closed in late March, and only essential workers could move from one side to the other.
A few weeks ago, Lesotho Finance Minister Moeketsi Majoro, in an interview with South Africa’s EyeWitness News, asked those who wish to be repatriated to remain in South Africa, fearing that some would return with the virus.
This would place a huge burden on the country’s already fragile health system, he said.
Lesotho does not have the resources to analyze Covid-19, so samples are sent to the South African National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).
Some have said that this can lead to a delay not only in case detection and spread of the virus, but also in administration of treatment.
“To date, we have sent 597 samples to be tested on the NICD, 295 are negative and 301 are still pending,” said Lesotho’s health ministry.
Source: BBC
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