The hospitalization capacity for patients with covid-19 in the hospitals of Maputo province, has been exhausted and the authorities have resorted to the city's units to meet the demandan official source told Lusa today.

"Maputo province has exceeded the installed capacity, having 42 beds occupied when previously 40 beds were allocated," said Benigna Matsinhe, deputy director of Public Health.

According to the source cited by Lusa, the health units of that province are resorting to hospitals in Maputo city, the capital, for the admission of patients in serious condition.

"Right now, Maputo City has 334 occupied beds (57%) out of the total 583 that exist," Benigna Matsinhe said.

In the first 19 days of this month alone, the start of the third wave of the pandemic, the country recorded 24,381 new cases, 1,132 new hospitalizations, and 260 deaths, compared to 9,628 new cases, 419 hospitalizations, and 87 deaths recorded at the start of the second wave.

"We call attention that we need strong collective action to stop the current speed of the pandemic in our country. Although the numbers are already bad, we may witness a serious situation next August," he added.

Since the announcement of the first case in March last year, the country has a total of 1,138 deaths due to covid-19 and 100,785 infections, 76% of which have been recovered, according to the latest updates.