Cases of Covid-19 are once again on the rise in Madagascar, raising fears of a fourth wave as the austral winter has just begun. With very low vaccination coverage and the end of restrictions due to the epidemic, caregivers confirm an increase even if this translates into few serious forms, six months after the last and third wave in December.
With our correspondent in Antananarivo, Laura Verneau
The authorities identify 53 cases of contamination on average each day, against 4 on average in April: according to official figures, cases of coronavirus have started to rise again. And if the figures of the ministry seem tiny, the returns of caregivers in hospitals confirm this increase.
” In Antananarivo, there is no problem with care in hospitals. Patients flock, but in practice there are very few serious formsnuance doctor Eric Andrianasolo, president of the order of doctors. This is different from the third wave. We are in the middle of winter, there are also other associated pathologies. »
Another challenge of this fourth wave of coronavirus: only 4.3% of the Malagasy population is vaccinated, with a dose utilization rate of only 35%, according to figures from the Ministry of Health. The latter announced at the end of April that it had thrown away 800,000 because of the expiry date.
Barrier gestures are no longer mandatory, as are gathering restrictions.
Philippe Dussart, director of the Institut Pasteur, advocates the use of vaccination as the best protection against the virus and its serious forms, even two years after the start of the pandemic.
Since March 2020, the coronavirus has claimed 1,400 lives and nearly 66,000 contaminations, according to official Malagasy statistics.