by Innocent Mujeri
The Ministry of Health and Child Care announced yesterday that the number of COVID-19 patients in Zimbabwe has reached five.
This comes at a time the Government has intensified efforts to curb the spread of the virus.
According to the COVID-19 daily update released yesterday by the Ministry of Health and Child Care, a total of 165 individuals were tested for the virus and five of them tested positive. Among those who tested positive was, Zororo Makamba, who succumbed to the pandemic this week.
The Ministry urged citizens to practise high standards of hygiene and avoid close contact with the people who are sick, coughing or sneezing.
Analysts who spoke to this publication attributed the low number of COVID-19 cases in Zimbabwe to robust measures that were put in place by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to curb the spread of the virus.
“The President (Mnangagwa) has been at the fore front since the eruption of this virus in Zimbabwe. He has put up measures that are helping reduce the number of infections among the citizens. With such visionary leadership, the effects of corona virus (COVID 19) will be minimal in Zimbabwe,” said one social analyst Tawanda Mugariri.
Recently President Mnangagwa declared COVID 19 a national disaster and has since announced an avalanche of measures to mitigate the spread of COVID 19 in Zimbabwe.
On 19 March, President Mnangagwa launched national preparedness and response plan against COVID-19 and the plan is backed by a budget of US$26.4 million. The President said this would allow the country to have an integrated and coordinated management strategy focusing on prevention of COVID-19 and mitigating the severity of its impact within our borders.
President Mnangagwa has already set up a taskforce led by Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Obadiah Moyo, to mobilize resources for the fight against the virus.
He has also banned public gatherings, including national independence celebrations that were slated for next month in Bulawayo, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the virus.
The private sector and the donor community have chipped in to assist the Government in its fight against COVID-19. The country received an assortment of medical equipment from Chinese business mogul, Jack Ma to be used in the fight against COVID 19.
The measures put in place by the President to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 will continuously be reviewed and perfected to effectively deal with the pandemic.
