Mozambique has recorded two more cases of Covid-19 cases, raising the total in the country to five, local media reported.

Four cases were imported, while one resulted from local transmission of the novel coronavirus. The latest two cases were tested in the private sector.

Health minister Armindo Tiago, told O Pais newspaper that Mozambique still had a window to apply effective prevention measures, since it still had a small  number of cases.

O Pais reported that 663 people quarantined in Mozambique. 

Verdade newspaper reported that the two people who tested positive were a 77-year-old woman and a 30-year-old South African national residing in Maputo who had been to Johannesburg in her home country, where the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases stands at 709.

Health authorities said 39 people who came into contact with the infected people were being monitored regularly by the health authorities.

There are fears that South Africa has become the epicenter of the pandemic in Africa and could “export” Covid-19 to Mozambique, Verdade reported.

South Africa is Mozambique's main commercial, social and tourist partner, with more than two thousand people crossing the Ressano Garcia border every day and hundreds entering through the Mavalane airport.

South Africa has declared a 21-day lockdown from midnight on Thursday in a bid to arrest the rapid spread of Covid-19, during which the movement of people across its borders will be prohibited while train services have been suspended and only essential services will be allowed to operate.

Among Mozambique's other neighbours, Eswatini has four confirmed cases of the coronavirus, while Zimbabwe has three with one death, Zambia has three and Tanzania has 12 cases.