Harare(New Ziana) – Health authorities in Zimbabwe said at the weekend no new Covid-19 cases had been detected on Saturday, bringing hope the transmission cycle had been brought under control.

The country had been reporting almost daily increases in transmission in the past few days, albeit small numbers.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health and Child Care said no coronavirus cases had been found among the latest batch of samples from suspected people tested on Saturday.

Tests the previous day yielded two positive cases, bringing the country’s confirmed total to seven.

“As of the 26th March 2020, 16 032 travellers arriving from countries with confirmed Covid-19 cases were screened at the national points of entry and put on surveillance.

“Today (Saturday), 6 samples were tested at the National Microbiology Laboratory and all tested negative for Covid-19,” said the Ministry.

Most of the confirmed cases relate to the second Covid-19 victim, who contracted the disease in the US and has since died.

They all contracted the disease after coming in contact with the second reported victim.

The government has since declared the pandemic a national disaster and put the nation in total lockdown for 21 days to allow it to better tackle it.

It has also closed borders and set up surveillance and treatment centres in many cities.

New Ziana