Implementing malaria control in South Africa, Eswatini and southern Mozambique during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 global pandemic reached South Africa (SA), Mozambique and Eswatini in March 2020.[1] Since then an exponential increase in SARS-CoV-2 infections has severely stretched SA's healthcare system, especially in terms of in-hospital treatment of severe cases. The impact of COVID-19 in Mozambique and Eswatini at the time of writing has been comparatively mild, but is increasing. It is therefore imperative to reduce as far as possible the number and rate of hospitalisations caused by trauma and other diseases, including malaria. Malaria incidence in SA is seasonal and peaks in the wetter summer months, especially during January to April.[2] Although malaria incidence in SA is currently low, the risk of outbreaks is always present, with the most recent having occurred in 2017 and, at a more localised level in Limpopo Province, in 2019. The reasons for these latest outbreaks are varied and include unusually high rainfall and cross-border movement of migrant populations, fuelling local transmission. These issues are particularly pertinent to COVID-19 in SA's malaria-affected districts. They highlight the importance of mitigating factors contributing to high malaria incidence and consequent hospitalisations, which may be further exacerbated by COVID-19/malaria coinfections and the re-opening of SA's borders with those neighbouring countries with higher malaria transmission intensities.