By Claver Nyuki
The Ministry of Health and Child Care, in its daily update, has dispelled earlier reports claiming that that the confirmed third case of the coronavirus (COVID-19), had contact with the late media personality, Zororo Makamba who succumbed to the virus on 23 March 2020.
The latest patient, a 52 year old male Harare resident who had travelled to Dubai and returned on 15 March 2020, presented himself at Wilkins Infectious Diseases Hospital with a history of a cough.
The Ministry stated that, “Following the report of the third confirmed case of Covid-19, the Ministry would like to advise the nation that this third patient is a 52 year old male resident of Harare who had travelled to Dubai and returned on 15 March 2020.
“He presented at Wilkins Hospital with a history of cough with no fever. He was diagnosed positive for COVID-19 yesterday and is being currently being managed under self-quarantine.
“The patient had had no contact with the now deceased second case (Zororo Makamba). Our teams are now engaged in contact tracing, assisted by the patient himself. The Ministry continues to be on high alert to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Ministry highlighted.
The Ministry has tested 100 potential COVID-19 cases to date with 96 coming back negative, three tested positive and one was inconclusive. The Ministry has alerted that it will retest the inconclusive patient as soon as possible.
The Ministry advised that it has commenced the distribution of the donation from the Chinese tycoon Jack Ma and Alibaba Foundation, prioritising areas with high risk of infection.
“The distribution of commodities received yesterday from the Jack Ma and Alibaba Foundation through the African Union (AU), started today (25 March 2020) to ensure availability of adequate personal protective equipment for health care workers in all provinces and districts but especially to areas where there is the greatest need,” it added.
According to the Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC), as of 25 March 2020, 2 475 cases have been confirmed of COVID-19 and 64 deaths have been reported from 46 countries in Africa. These statistics include 12 SADC member states including Zimbabwe.
