#COVID19: Democratic Republic Of Congo May Slide Into 5th Wave, Gov’t Warns
DR Congo citizens must make themselves available to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 as a way of avoiding the looming fifth wave of the pandemic.
Dr Jean-Jacques Muyembe, DR Congo’s Coordinator of the Technical Secretariat of the Multisectoral Response Against COVID-19 says the country is yet to eradicate the pandemic and warned citizens against being complacent.
Dr Muyembe emphasised that COVID-19 is still in the country and continues to spread warning that there is a risk that the DR Congo may be entering the fifth wave of the pandemic.
“As the virus continues to circulate, we are not really at the zero level. Our pandemic comes from the exterior and as in Europe, China and in certain African countries, the pandemic continues, thus there is a risk that we are entering the fifth wave,” the Coordinator said during a press conference organised by the United States Embassy in Kinshasa on Wednesday, May 4.
He, however, maintained that citizens must present themselves for vaccination as vaccines remain the only way to beat the impending fifth wave.
“Having a high rate of vaccination coverage can help us avoid entering the fifth wave of the pandemic, thus the risk is still there. It might perhaps be weak but it is there. COVID-19 is not yet finished and you have seen what is happening in China,” Dr Muyembe said.
“There is a resurgence after several months following a year of calm, thus the virus can always reappear. But in our country, the virus is not completely finished, the virus is there and so the risk is there also.”
COVID-19 was first officially declared in the DR Congo on March 10, 2020 and the capital Kinshasa remains the epicentre and since then the country has been faced with four waves.
According to a report by the Technical Secretariat of the Multisectoral Response Against the COVID-19 made public on May 3, 2022, only three new cases of the coronavirus have recently been confirmed in the country with two in Kinshasa and one in Haut-Katanga.
To date, the total number of cases in the country is 87,447 with 87,445 cases confirmed and two probable cases.
Altogether, 1,338 persons have died from COVID-19 in the DR Congo, according to the report.
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