Harare (New- Ziana) – The Zimbabwe Republic Police on Tuesday nabbed two port health officials on criminal abuse of office charges after they allegedly released two inmates from a Covid-19 quarantine centre at the Chirundu border post without following proper procedures.

Recently reviewed Covid-19 regulations mandates visitors to have a PCR test done on arrival and to be quarantined for at least 14 days at a government designated facility, as part of enhanced measures to stop the spread of the pandemic.

Other new prevention and control measures include a daily curfew running from 9 PM to 6 AM, while bars and restaurants only serve vaccinated customers.

In a statement, the police said Zenifati Banda (39) and Maruta Mashiri were facing criminal abuse of office charges after they solicited US$100 from the inmates.

“The offence came to light after one of the port health official noted that the two inmates were missing and reported the case. A swift reaction was done leading to the arrest of the inmates who then disclosed what had happened,” the police said.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe on Tuesday recorded 4 031 new Covid-19 infections and 5 deaths as it experiences a surge in Covid-19 cases like the rest of the world.

The spike follows the discovery last week of the first case of the new Covid-19 variant, Omnicron, which whose discovery in South Africa and Botswana has since led some European countries and the United States to ban flights from Southern Africa.

Early evidence suggests Omicron has a higher re-infection risk.

Following the recent spike in infections, the Zimbabwe government has stepped up efforts to encourage citizens to get vaccinated with plans to introduce vaccination centres at all public transport ranks as well as hinting on the imminent banning of unvaccinated people from boarding public transport.

New Ziana