Felix Tsishekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo has disclosed that hospitals in the capital city, Kinshasa have been overwhelmed by new cases of COVID-19.
The President in a statement on Saturday informed the people of Congo of a rising third wave of the virus, with the capital city already on its knees as hospitals struggle to contain the spread.
Congo D.R. is one of several African nations to have recorded a low incidence of the disease, but has recorded high profile deaths. Tsishekedi told reporters the country has been battling with the Delta variant of the virus, which was seen in India.
The President has promised to take drastic measures to deal with the upsurge of the disease although he did not state what his plans to limit the spread of the virus are.
On Friday, 254 new incidents were recorded by authorities in what’s one of the single day highest in the country. Then country has so far reported 35,000 cases with 830 deaths recorded from those.
Its case fatality rate of 2.3% is below Africa’s average of 2.5%, however there are growing concerns of the readiness of the country to deal with the third wave, especially considering the “careless” nature of Kindhasa residents.
Local reports in Congo have said residents in the capital have been bullish about their chances with the disease with the public health regulations meant to limit the spread of the disease largely not followed.
Vaccination of residents started a month late in the country as complaints over the safety of the Astra-Zeneca vaccines were held by the government.
More than 30,000 people have been vaccinated in the country of over 80 million people.
