MASERU - The number of women infected with COVID-19 far much surpasses that of their male counterparts, a report released last week has revealed. According to the National COVID-19 Secretariat (NACOSEC), 62 percent of the infected are females, while males stand at 38% countrywide.

Maseru still has the highest infection rate at 50 percent followed by Leribe with 13 percent while Thaba-Tseka is the last district with just two percent. With the reported results, NACOSEC has pledged to keep investigating as to why women are being infected more than men.

The chief executive officer of NACOSEC, Thabo Khasipe, also noted that by age distribution, COVID-19 cases are largest in the age group of 30-35. He said people who are also mostly infected are between the ages of 26 and 30 while the least infected are those at 60 and above as well as children.

Khasipe further noted that there is a chance that most people were infected with COVID-19 and recovered without even knowing, alluding to the fact that testing has been very low and slow in the country. Speaking of the recovery rate, he described it as quite encouraging one in five people has recovered from the disease.

He, however, said there is a higher rate of death. From the infected cases, when reports were made, the rate at which people are dying from the virus was 3.1 percent, which he said is uncomfortably high, compared to other countries where the death rate stands at around 0.5 percent.