by Shongedzai Mugwagwa
The National Social Security Authority (NSSA) has availed its US$39 million Holiday Inn Beitbridge Express hotel to be used as a quarantine centre for those entering the country through Beitbridge border post, the Harare Post can report.
The 136 room hotel was built under the Beitbridge Redevelopment Programme and was formerly leased by the Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) before shutting down in May 2016 following two years of successive losses.
Presently the hotel complex houses two banks, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority regional office and NSSA offices.
It is understood that the new development will ease the burden on the main district hospital which is a referral centre for 250 000 people from 21 wards in the district and an additional daily transit population of 13 000.
In a statement today, NSSA said: “The former Beitbridge Rainbow Hotel will be used as a transit isolation centre to cater for returning residents from South Africa.
“This means every Zimbabwean who passes through the Beitbridge border post from South Africa and suspected to be infected will be quarantined for 21 days at the NSSA facility as a precautionary measure. Zimbabwe’s southern neighbour is also battling to contain COVID-19 with an infection rate of over 1,000.”
According to the Task Force meeting minutes in possession of this publication, the 200 bed Ekusileni Medical Centre in Bulawayo has also been designated for all COVID-19 related issues, taking over from Thorngroove which could only accommodate 20 patients.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 Task Force further updated on new developments. Some of the developments are the launching of sanitizer production by the Great Zimbabwe University, the University of Zimbabwe received 20 000 litres for of ethanol for production of sanitizers, the Midlands State University handed over 2 000 facemasks to security services and that the ZDF and ZRP offered to produce Personal Protective Equipment at their factories.
Furthermore, CAPS Holdings has started producing 80 000 chloroquine tablets. The two malaria drugs — chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine — have been identified as potential COVID-19 treatments and have successfully been used in other countries for corona virus.
Government has escalated its fight against the COVID-19 scourge.
