Zim Covid-19 cases rise to 29

Takudzwa Chihambakwe

Coronavirus cases in Zimbabwe have risen to 29 after a resident of the country’s second largest city, Bulawayo, tested positive.

This comes as authorities “expanded testing to determine the full extent of infections” in the Southern African nation.

Full details of the latest case are expected later on Friday.

In its daily update, the Health and Child Care Ministry said, “. . .of the 101 polymerise chain reaction (PCR) tests done in Bulawayo on April 22, one was positive for Covid-19.

“(On April 23), a total of 460 tests were done, giving a total of 5 450 screening and diagnostic tests done to date.”

Coronavirus, which causes a disease known as Covid-19, has led to over 187 400 deaths worldwide.

Zimbabwe has registered four deaths and two recoveries; and is on lockdown under a strategy to curtail infections.

The capital, Harare, has the highest number of cases at 12 and Bulawayo 11, among them a four-year-old.

Mashonaland East has recorded four cases while Matabeleland North and Mashonaland West have one each.

In their latest article, sociologists Professor Marvellous Mhloyi and Dr Stanzia Moyo write that “more still needs to be done” to minimise infections.

Prof Mhloyi and Dr Moyo are with the University of Zimbabwe’s Faculty of Social Studies (Centre for Population Studies).

The article recommends: “There is need for more efficient use of available resources for prevention of Covid-19, and the much-needed prevention, treatment and care of existing healthcare needs, a challenging yet indispensable balancing exercise.

“This is necessary if mortality from other diseases is to be at least sustained at the pre-Covid-19 levels. Consistently, it is important to continue undertaking the repairing of the healthcare system currently underway.”

The scholars continued, “There is need for the maximum involvement of all frontline experts in the healthcare system where such experts must be adequately armed with personal protective equipment.

“In addition, there is need for rapid decentralisation of testing which will assist in a number of ways.”

Last Sunday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said expansive testing was key to his Government’s Coronavirus response.

“Government has now embarked upon expanded tests covering our whole country. This allows us to gauge the magnitude of the problem, while promptly isolating cases early enough from the onset of the virus, and before more and more people are infected through contact or community transmissions.”