Covid-19 hits Zim’s biggest bank

Harare (New Ziana) – Zimbabwe’s largest bank, CBZ Holdings on Tuesday shut down seven of its branches and five offices after 35 of its employees tested positive for Covid-19, as the disease continues to invade the corporate sector.

The bank joins a growing list of companies and institutions that have publicly announced that part of their workforce has been affected by the disease at a time the country continues to register more cases of local transmission.

Group chief executive officer, Dr Blessing Mudavanhu said one of the workers who tested positive, succumbed to the disease last Sunday.

“To date out of over 900 tests conducted, regrettably a total of 35 of our staff members have tested positive for Covid-19,” he said.

“One of our staff members sadly passed away on Sunday 26 July 2020, having also tested positive.”

The branches and offices which the bank has closed are all in Harare, which is one of the hotspots of the disease in the country.

The bank has over 50 branches countrywide.

“We anticipate opening of these Branches and offices within 48–72 hours for continued business thereafter,” Dr Mudavanhu said.

CBZ is a financial services conglomerate with subsidiaries in banking, insurance, investments, wealth management, mortgages and retail finance.

As at 27 July, Zimbabwe had recorded 36 deaths and 2 702 confirmed
cases of Covid-19.

The disease continues to spread despite the country being under a
nationwide lockdown aimed at curbing its spread.
New Ziana