COVID-19 pandemic in Lesotho
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationLesotho
First outbreakWuhan, Hubei, China
30°35′14″N 114°17′17″E / 30.58722°N 114.28806°E / 30.58722; 114.28806
Arrival date13 May 2020
(3 years, 8 months and 5 days)
Confirmed cases36,135[1]
Recovered34,067[2]
Deaths
709[1]
Government website
National COVID-19 Secretariat

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.[3]

Prior to this, Lesotho was the last country in Africa to have no reported cases of COVID-19 during the global pandemic.[4][5]

The country did not have the ability to test for the virus,[6] and so, in order to prevent the spread of the virus the government closed its border with South Africa.[7] 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.[6] Prime Minister Thomas Thabane announced a three-week lock down from midnight 29 March.[8] Lesotho began sending its samples to South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases for testing.[9]

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.[10]

Timeline

May 2020

  • Lesotho began lifting some aspects of the lockdown from 5 May.[11]
  • Lesotho confirmed its first case on 13 May and its second case on 22 May.[12]
  • 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 .[13]
  • On 22 June, eight additional cases were reported, seven of whom had travelled from South Africa, and one from Zimbabwe.[14]
  • 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.[15]

Subsequent cases

  • 2020 cases

There were 3,206 confirmed cases in 2020. 1496 patients recovered while 51 persons died. At the end of 2020 there were 1659 active cases.[16]

  • 2021 cases

There were 26,446 confirmed cases in 2021, bringing the total number of cases to 29,652. 14,326 patients recovered in 2021 while 620 persons died, bringing the total death toll to 671. At the end of 2021 there were 13,159 active cases.[17]

Modeling carried out by WHO's Regional Office for Africa suggests that due to under-reporting, the true cumulative number of infections by the end of 2021 was around 0.98 million while the true number of COVID-19 deaths was around 700.[18]

  • 2022 cases

There were 5,495 confirmed cases in 2022, bringing the total number of cases to 35,147. 38 persons died, bringing the total death toll to 709.[19]

  • 2023 cases

There were 745 confirmed cases in 2023, bringing the total number of cases to 35,892. The death toll remained unchanged.

Statistics

Confirmed new cases per day

Confirmed deaths per day

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Ritchie, Hannah; Mathieu, Edouard; Rodés-Guirao, Lucas; Appel, Cameron; Giattino, Charlie; Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban; Hasell, Joe; Macdonald, Bobbie; Beltekian, Diana; Dattani, Saloni; Roser, Max (2020–2022). "Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)". Our World in Data. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  2. ↑ "Lesotho COVID - Coronavirus Statistics - Worldometer". Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  3. ↑ "LESOTHO RECORDS FIRST COVID-19 CASE". Eyewitness News. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  4. ↑ Silence Charumbira in Maseru. "Lesotho records first coronavirus case a week after lifting lockdown | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  5. ↑ "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.
  6. 1 2 Ngatane, Nthakoana. "Lesotho declares national emergency over COVID-19 outbreak". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  7. ↑ "Covid-19: Lesotho seals borders amid infection fears while SA tourism suffers". IOL. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  8. ↑ "Covid-19: Lesotho seals borders amid infection fears while SA tourism suffers". Sowetan Live. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  9. ↑ "COVID-19 EXCLUSIVE: Lesotho's Majoro pleads with Basotho not to return home". Eyewitness News. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ "Lesotho Eases Lockdown Restrictions With No Coronavirus Cases". Bloomberg. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  12. ↑ Response, Lesotho Covid (22 May 2020). "Second case confirmedpic.twitter.com/4vMuh5Snb6". @LResponse. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  13. ↑ "Two more cases tests positive while two recovers". Twitter.
  14. ↑ "Lesotho records seven SA-linked Covid-19 cases". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  15. ↑ "Coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) situation report 163" (PDF). World Health Organization. 1 July 2020. p. 8. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  16. ↑ Diallo, Oumy (1 January 2021). "Coronavirus en Afrique : quels sont les pays impactés ?" (in French). TV5MONDE. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  17. ↑ Lesotho COVID-19 update, National COVID-19 Secretariat, 31 December 2021.
  18. ↑ Cabore, Joseph Waogodo; Karamagi, Humphrey Cyprian; Kipruto, Hillary Kipchumba; Mungatu, Joseph Kyalo; Asamani, James Avoka; Droti, Benson; Titi-ofei, Regina; Seydi, Aminata Binetou Wahebine; Kidane, Solyana Ngusbrhan; Balde, Thierno; Gueye, Abdou Salam; Makubalo, Lindiwe; Moeti, Matshidiso R (1 June 2022). "COVID-19 in the 47 countries of the WHO African region: a modelling analysis of past trends and future patterns". The Lancet Global Health. 10 (8): e1099–e1114. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(22)00233-9. PMC 9159735. PMID 35659911. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  19. ↑ "Outbreak brief 155: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic". Africa CDC. 3 January 2023. p. 4. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
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