Limpho Sello
FORMER Deputy Prime Minister Monyane Moleleki, his wife, Dr Thabelo Ramatlapeng and daughter, Limpho Moleleki have all been discharged from the Berea Isolation Hospital where they had been admitted after testing positive for Coronavirus (Covid-19).
The trio was discharged on Wednesday.
All along, the Alliance of Democrats (AD) leader and his wife Dr Ramatlapeng (also known as Malimpho Moleleki) were the only two members of the family who had been publicly confirmed as having tested positive for Covid-19.
Ms Moleleki was the first to test positive on 15 July 2020 and Mr Moleleki subsequently tested positive on 22 July 2020.
But according to an AD statement issued by the party’s secretary general Mahali Phamotse on Thursday, Mr Moleleki’s daughter, Limpho, also tested positive along with her father on 22 July 2020.
The trio were all discharged from the Berea Hospital on Wednesday, Dr Phamotse said.
“The AD’s national executive committee (NEC) wishes to inform AD members and the Basotho nation of the discharge of the AD leader Mr Monyane Moleleki, his wife Dr Thabelo Ramatlapeng and his daughter Limpho from the government hospital in Berea on Wednesday,” Dr Phamotse said in the statement.
“They were discharged after being admitted there after they tested positive for Covid-19,” she added.
Normally patients are discharged when they have fully recovered from the virus. Presumably the Molelekis have recovered from the virus although the AD statement does not explicitly state that they have recovered. Dr Phamotse and Mr Moleleki were not reachable on their mobile phones to elaborate on the issue.
Over a week ago, Ms Moleleki’s sister, former Health Minister Mphu Ramatlapeng, deplored the poor conditions at the Berea hospital.
Dr Ramatlapeng, who served in the Pakalitha Mosisili government from 1998 to 2012, told the Lesotho Times that the facility lacked adequate equipment and facilities to help patients beat the deadly virus.
She said she saw first-hand the poor state of the facility when she visited Ms Moleleki who was admitted there after testing positive for Covid-19. The facility lacked a heating system as well as hot water and therefore patients had to endure very cold wintry conditions, she said.
In its statement this week, the AD called on the government to deploy more staff and fully equip the Berea hospital and all other government hospitals to enable them to rise to the challenge posed by Covid-19.
“We also appeal to the government to urgently respond to all the demands of the health workers (for risk allowances and personal protective equipment). Responding to their demands urgently will allow workers to be committed to their work and give the excellent services they are known for.
“We are currently in a health crisis due to Covid-19 which has aggravated an economic and humanitarian crisis.
“Should this crisis be taken for granted by the government, we are not likely not to come out victorious in the fight against Covid-19,” Dr Phamotse said.
So far, 702 people have tested positive for Covid-19 and 14 have died from the virus in Lesotho.