PUBLIC hospitals in Madagascar have reached maximum capacity and may not be able to admit more patients as the country experiences an overwhelming surge in the cases of COVID-19 infection.

According to a report by Bloomberg, only patients with severe complications from the COVID-19 infection will be henceforth admitted into the various hospitals across the country while the government also opened a 400-bed treatment center for people with mild symptoms and is importing about 1,000 oxygen machines.

President Andry Rajoelina had placed another lock-down to last till July 26 after an initial lock-down in March was lifted after four weeks on the country’s central region,  as the five public hospitals in the capital, Antananarivo, declared that they could no longer handle the rise of  COVID-19 patients.

Currently, only one person is allowed from each household to go grocery shopping or get medical supplies as the number of confirmed cases in Madagascar has hit 7,153 on Monday, with a death toll of 62.

In April the Malagasy government had touted a herbal mixture named COVID-Organic to be a cure for the COVID-19 infection.

Mr. Rajoelina had launched the indigenous herbal remedy developed by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research, which was produced from Artemisia, a plant with a proven antidote against malaria.