The Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, Anatole Collinet Makosso, announced Monday in Brazzaville that the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has begun in Congo, with the Congolese capital as the epicenter.

"I officially announce the occurrence of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Congo, with Brazzaville as the epicenter," the Congolese Prime Minister Makosso said.

"This new wave is characterized by an upsurge in infection tally, a rapid progression of the disease of severe forms and a high number of deaths," he noted, adding that "the more contagious Delta variant partly fuels the third wave."

In the first two weeks of October 2021, 32 deaths have been reported, far exceeding the monthly average of death tally observed since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, he said.

A total of 15,962 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported to date, including 231 deaths recorded in hospitals. The Congolese government has committed to increasing diagnostic capacity from 1,000 to 3,000 tests per day in order to curb the pandemic.