By Staff Reporter
Government has upped the stake in its fight against the deadly Coronavirus by setting a target of 33 000 people to be tested across the country by 30 April 2020.
In new measures approved by the COVID-19 Inter-ministerial Taskforce headed by Vice President Kembo Mohadi, and communicated to all Provincial Medical Directors, Chief Executives of Hospitals, City Health Directors and private hospitals yesterday, Secretary for Health and Child Care, Dr Agnes Mahomva said that the following groups were to be tested for COVID-19;
- All individuals fitting the case definition;
- Travellers coming from affected countries;
- Persons with Influenza-like symptoms;
- Contacts of confirmed cases;
- All cases of Pneumonia admitted in hospitals;
- All patients with fever at health facilities;
- All frontline health care workers;
- All community deaths in localities with transmission cases;
- Communities around a cluster of cases;
- All persons above 60 years admitted for chronic illnesses; and
- All persons working during the lockdown in retail outlets, petrol stations, law enforcers
Secretary Mahomva emphasised that the Ministry of Health and Child Care would prioritise all Government employees who are reporting for duty to be tested to allow for the mapping of positive cases/clusters as they interface with communities. Rapid Testing Diagnostic Kits (RTDs) would be used to fast-track the process.
She directed that the process of collecting samples be commenced with immediate effect.
There had been an outcry from the public that Government was not testing enough to determine the true extent of the spread of the Coronavirus.
A medical practitioner, Dr Simba Kashangura, praised the Government for increasing testing to encompass a broader sample as this was the best way of taming the deadly COVID-19 disease. He urged Zimbabweans to heed the lockdown, citing that a combination of increased testing, lock-down, social distancing and increased hygiene would result in Zimbabwe flattening the curve.
