By Tendai Matunhu
Up to date, Zimbabwe has had no confirmed cases of COVID19, as all suspected cases have been followed up and tests carried out, have found to be negative, the Ministry of Health and Child Care revealed in a statement yesterday, 8 March 2020.
The Ministry revealed that all samples that have so far been taken to the laboratory have tested negative for COVID19 adding that the Mutare woman who died en route to Wilkins had also tested negative to the virus.
“All tests were conducted by well-trained local laboratory teams. Additional samples from suspected cases are also being sent for confirmation testing by the regional reference laboratory The South African National Institute of Communicable diseases (NCID) laboratory. To date all samples have tested negative for COVID-19.
“The latest suspected case is that of a Mutare woman who returned from China more than a month ago on 24 January 2020. She presented to her General Medical Practitioner and was referred to Wilkins Hospital on Friday 6 March 2020 for COVID 19 tests but was confirmed dead on arrival. Her COVID19 test subsequently came back negative,” said the Ministry.
Zimbabwe has stepped up its preparedness measures through heightened surveillance system at national provincial and district level with special focus on all ports of entry throughout the country, as it continues to work closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“Some of the measures include, Inter-ministerial update and coordination meetings covered. The latest was on 2 March 2020. Training of health care workers with technical support from WHO Trained Trainers are cascading the trainings to all provinces and districts level. There are designated locations, dedicated for the isolation of COVID19 patients if identified throughout the country. Work is in progress to strengthen these locations.
“Test kits for COVID19 have been procured and some received as donations from partners such as WHO, Africa CDC, DFID and the Chinese Government. All hospitals have been put on high alert for COVID19.
“As part of Government’s efforts to strengthen Zimbabwe’s fight against the spread of COVID19, the Ministry of Health and Child Care continues to be guided by WHO guidelines and advice on surveillance, follow up and case management,” said the Ministry.
The public is therefore advised to be guided by government’s COVID19 Situation Reports (SitReps) that are issued frequently to provide accurate and detailed updates and to avoid being misled by unofficial social media reports. The public has also been urged to exercise good personal hygiene as this is one of the best prevention measures for COVID19.
Government through the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services and the Ministry of Health and Child Care is disseminating information with regards to the COVID19 situation in the country.
Meanwhile, Malawi has set up an 8-member ministerial team to prepare, prevent and mitigate COVID19, with the government of Zambia also creating a contingency fund for emergency preparedness, prevention and mitigation measures against COVID19 outbreak.
