RUSTENBURG - An 18-month-old baby and a five-year-old toddler are among 115 people who have been infected with Covid-19 in Mozambique, local media reported.
According to O Pais, eight more people were diagnosed with the coronavirus on Thursday, including the two children. The source of their infection was not yet known.
The ministry of health said the baby was diagnosed at Maputo Central Hospital and investigations were underway to find out how she got the virus.
"Right now we are tracking the countries and the closest contacts, but we know that it (baby) was not infected by the parents," the national director of health observation at the National Institute of Health Sergio Chicumbe said.
"There is a suspicion of a grandfather who recently had symptoms of fevers and we are currently investigating whether it was through this relative or not. The contact line is being investigated."
As of May 14, 668,480 people had been screened in the southern African country, out of which 13,856 had been subjected to home quarantine.
The cases reported on Thursday were all in house isolation and the process of tracing their contacts was underway, reports said.
Mozambique has had 12 cases of Covid-19 imported from outside the country, while 103 cases have resulted from local transmission.
Of all these cases, 42 people have fully recovered.
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has extended a state of emergency in the country by a month in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Under the measure, the movement of people is restricted, schools remain closed and no foreigners are allowed into the country.