- The Madagascar government says it has opened a new COVID-19 treatment centre that can accommodate 250 COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms.
The Madagascar government says it has opened a new COVID-19 treatment centre that can accommodate 250 COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms.
President Andre Rajoelina, said the Mahamasina treatment centre, built in the capital Antananarivo, is to help strengthen the treatment of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms as hospitals in the country have become overwhelmed due to surging COVID-19 cases.
He revealed that the centre, where care will be provided primarily by army doctors and paramedics, has been equipped with oxygen concentrators as well as ventilators for patients with breathing difficulties.
Reiterating his commitment to containing COVID-19, Rajoelina, announced that 2,400 oxygen concentrators will soon be distributed to hospitals across the country.
“In these difficult times, I call on the nation to show unity and solidarity in the fight against the epidemic,” the president said.
It might be recalled that President Rajoelina has been promoting an infusion derived from artemisia — a plant with proven anti-malarial properties — as a homegrown cure for COVID-19.
Despite the homegrown remedy, the Indian Ocean island nation has so far recorded 8,866 virus cases, including 78 deaths and 5,576 recoveries.
Health officials said they are struggling to cope with the increase in COVID-19 patients, even as designated hospitals in the capital, Antananarivo, warn that they are starting to run out of beds.
