Zim Covid-19 cases now at 178

Harare, (New Ziana) – Zimbabwe on Sunday recorded four new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total to 178, the Ministry of Health and Child Care has said.

A sharp rise in new cases, the majority of which are citizens returning from other countries in Southern Africa, has in the past week alone seen the number of cases spike by over 120.

The health ministry said the latest four cases were of three returnees
from South Africa and one from Mozambique, who were already in
isolation.

“To date the total number of confirmed cases is 178, recovered 29, active cases 145 and four deaths, since the onset of the outbreak on March 20, 2020,” the Ministry of Health said.

The total number of tests carried out since the end of March is 45 395.

But experts say although testing had been stepped up in recent months,
it remained low, and as a result, might not give an accurate picture
of infection levels.

Government, they say, should extend testing to the generality of citizens to at least have an idea on the extent of local transmission of cases besides those that have been recorded by people who had contact with confirmed cases.

Zimbabwe is under an indefinite Level 2 lockdown which forbids
unnecessary movement of citizens, restrictions that are now scarcely
being followed.

Some sections of the economy which have high potential to spread the virus such as the informal sector and private transport operators have
remained closed in the past two months.

Government has also made it mandatory for citizens to wear masks when
in public in a bid to contain the spread of the respiratory disease.
New Ziana