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MBABANE – The number of COVID-19-related deaths reached a peak about two weeks ago.

The country recorded 48 COVID-19-related deaths from January 4, 2022 until January 17, 2022.

According to the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, the deaths were now showing a slight decline but were still high.

Nkosi said the deaths were increasing as expected, adding that this was because the peak of COVID-19 deaths usually lagged behind the one for infections.

The minister said the peak of infections happened during the middle of December last year. She said, therefore, the peak of deaths had been delayed by three to four weeks from the peak of cases.

Nkosi said the fourth wave was showing signs of consistent decline in cases, despite the festive season activities.

She stated that the reason for not seeing a significant rise in new cases after the festive season could be related to the mask-wearing mandate that was still in place in the country, encouraging outdoor versus indoor and the fact that the people were utilising all testing centres when experiencing flu-like symp- toms. This, she said, could have prompted more people to adhere to the isolation protocols to prevent further transmission. “The role of vaccination is still being studied in preventing transmissions, but it could have had a role in preventing transmission of the virus among the elderly population.”

Nkosi said the impact of the opening of schools was yet to be seen.

However, she said with the vaccination drive that was ongoing in schools, it could alter the trends in transmission of the virus going forward.

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