COVID-19 pandemic in Lesotho

The COVID-19 pandemic in Lesotho is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached Lesotho on 13 May 2020.[2]

COVID-19 pandemic in Lesotho
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationLesotho
First outbreakWuhan, Hubei, China
30°35′14″N 114°17′17″E
Arrival date13 May 2020
(8 months, 3 weeks and 4 days)
Confirmed cases9,380 (as of 7 February)[1]
Active cases6,491 (as of 7 February)
Recovered2,706 (as of 7 February)[1]
Deaths
183 (as of 7 February)[1]

Prior to this, Lesotho was the last country in Africa to have no reported cases of COVID-19 during the global pandemic.[3][4]

The country did not have the ability to test for the virus,[5] and so, in order to prevent the spread of the virus the government closed its border with South Africa.[6] On 18 March, the government declared a national emergency despite having no confirmed cases, and closed schools until 17 April, but allowed school meals to continue. Arriving travellers were to be quarantined for 14 days upon arrival.[5] Prime Minister Thomas Thabane announced a three-week lock down from midnight 29 March.[7] Lesotho began sending its samples to South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases for testing.[8]

Recorded cases started to increase rapidly in 2021, with revelations that the government had released COVID-19-positive people from quarantine early, as well as cases attributed to workers travelling home from South Africa. On 8 January, South African border authorities estimated that more than 100 Lesotho arrivals a day were testing positive.[9]

Timeline

May 2020

Lesotho began lifting some aspects of the lockdown from 5 May.[10]

Lesotho confirmed its first case on 13 May and its second case on 22 May.[11]

At the end of May, one of the two confirmed cases was still active.

June 2020

Two additional cases were reported on the 3 June. Both had travelled from Cape Town .[12]

On 22 June, eight additional cases were reported, seven of whom had travelled from South Africa, and one from Zimbabwe.[13]

During June there were 25 confirmed cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 27. Three patients recovered in June, raising the total number of recovered patients to 4. The remaining 23 cases were still active at the end of June.[14] Model-based simulations indicate that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number R t was around 2.0 in June.[15]

July 2020

The country recorded its first death on 9 July, by which time confirmed cases had climbed to 134.[16] By the end of the month the number of confirmed cases had climbed to 604 and the death toll to 13. The number of recovered patients increased to 144, leaving 447 active cases at the end of the month.[17]

August 2020

There were 481 new cases in August, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 1085. The death toll increased by 18 to 31. There were 526 active cases at the end of the month: 18% more than at the end of July.[18]

September 2020

There were 480 new cases in September, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1565. The death toll rose to 35. The number of recovered patients increased to 822, leaving 708 active cases at the end of the month.[19]

October 2020

There were 388 new cases in October, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1953. The death toll rose to 44. The number of recovered patients increased to 975, leaving 934 active cases at the end of the month.[20]

November 2020

There were 156 new cases in November, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2109. The death toll remained unchanged. The number of recovered patients increased to 1278, leaving 787 active cases at the end of the month.[21]

December 2020

There were 1097 new cases in December, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 3206. The death toll rose to 51. The number of recovered patients increased to 1496, leaving 1659 active cases at the end of the month.[22]

January 2021

There were 5458 new cases in January, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 8664. The death toll rose to 172. The number of recovered patients increased to 2552, leaving 5940 active cases at the end of the month.[23]

See also

References
  1. "Lesotho Coronavirus". www.worldometers.info. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  2. "LESOTHO RECORDS FIRST COVID-19 CASE". Eyewitness News. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  3. Silence Charumbira in Maseru. "Lesotho records first coronavirus case a week after lifting lockdown | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  4. "Coronavirus: All countries in Africa now have confirmed coronavirus after Lesotho is last with infection | World News". Sky News. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  5. Ngatane, Nthakoana. "Lesotho declares national emergency over COVID-19 outbreak". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  6. "Covid-19: Lesotho seals borders amid infection fears while SA tourism suffers". IOL. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  7. "Covid-19: Lesotho seals borders amid infection fears while SA tourism suffers". Sowetan Live. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  8. "COVID-19 EXCLUSIVE: Lesotho's Majoro pleads with Basotho not to return home". Eyewitness News. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  9. Maseru, Silence Charumbira in (8 January 2021). "'We can't cope': Lesotho faces Covid-19 disaster after quarantine failures". the Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  10. "Lesotho Eases Lockdown Restrictions With No Coronavirus Cases". Bloomberg. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  11. Response, Lesotho Covid (22 May 2020). "Second case confirmedpic.twitter.com/4vMuh5Snb6". @LResponse. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  12. "Two more cases tests positive while two recovers". Twitter.
  13. "Lesotho records seven SA-linked Covid-19 cases". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  14. "Coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) situation report 163" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 July 2020. p. 8. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  15. Future scenarios of the healthcare burden of COVID-19 in low- or middle-income countries, MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London.
  16. "Lesotho Coronavirus: 200 Cases and 1 Deaths - Worldometer". www.worldometers.info. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  17. "Coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) situation report 194" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 August 2020. p. 5. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  18. "Outbreak brief 33: COVID-19 pandemic – 1 September 2020". Africa CDC. 1 September 2020. p. 4. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  19. "COVID-19 situation update for the WHO African region. External situation report 31" (PDF). World Health Organization. 30 September 2020. p. 4. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  20. "Outbreak brief 42: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic". Africa CDC. 3 November 2020. p. 4. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  21. "Outbreak brief 46: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic". Africa CDC. 1 December 2020. p. 4. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  22. Diallo, Oumy (1 January 2021). "Coronavirus en Afrique : quels sont les pays impactés ?" (in French). TV5MONDE. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  23. "Outbreak brief 55: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic". Africa CDC. 2 February 2021. p. 4. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
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