President Mnangagwa warns of fresh wave of Covid-19 infections

Harare (New Ziana)- President Emerson Mnangagwa has warned of an imminent new wave of Covid-19 infections, and urged Zimbabweans to increase vigilance and adherence to safety protocols.

According to Ministry of Health and Child Care statistics, Zimbabwe recorded 299 new infections on Tuesday.

In light of the increasing local cases, President Mnangagwa urged unvaccinated citizens to get jabbed.

“The winter season is now upon us and there are indications that another wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is imminent,” he said in his Africa Day message.

“I therefore urge all those who are yet to be vaccinated to go and get vaccinated. Those who have since received their two jabs are encouraged to go and get the third booster shot.”

To date, a total of 6 210 924 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

On Tuesday last week, the government said genomic sequencing results showed that Zimbabwe was still free of the virulent BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants that are fuelling a fifth wave of infections in neighbouring South Africa.

“The nation is informed that the most recent genomic sequencing test results show that the circulating variants in Zimbabwe remain Omicron BA.1 and BA.2, and not the more transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 that have been reported in South Africa,” Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said during a post Cabinet media briefing.

Last week, the overall number of new cases increased to 910 compared to 361 the previous week. An average of 130 new cases were being reported per day last week, compared to 52 the previous week while a total of 49 new hospital admissions were recorded compared to 42 the previous week, with 8 patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.

As at 24 May 2022, Zimbabwe had 251 228 confirmed cases, including 243 366 recoveries and 5 496 deaths.
New Ziana