Harare (New Ziana) – Seventeen new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in Zimbabwe on Thursday, bringing to 149 the total number of confirmed infections in the country since the onset of the outbreak, the Ministry of Health and Child Care has said.

In a daily update, the Ministry said the new infections were recorded in quarantine facilities where returning citizens were being housed.

“17 cases tested positive for Covid-19 today. These are all returnees from Mozambique (9), South Africa (7) and United Kingdom (1) who are in quarantine centres.

“To date, the number of confirmed cases to 149, recoveries 28, active cases 117 and 4 deaths since the onset of the outbreak on 20 March 2020,” said the Ministry of Health.

Most of the country’s infections are imported from outside, mostly through returning residents. These account for more than 90 percent of the confirmed cases.

The infections were recorded from 2005 rapid screening tests and 490 PCR diagnostic tests.

Cumulatively, Zimbabwe has tested 40 849 samples for Covid-19 (24 407 rapid screening and 16 440 PCR diagnostic tests.

New Ziana