Staff Reporter

President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday extended the Covid 19 national lockdown by another two weeks under the same conditions announced a fortnight ago.

In a statement yesterday, the President said the lockdown situation will be reviewed after two weeks.

“In order to ensure that we continue along the path towards total containment of the Covid 19 pandemic, I have decided it prudent to extend the Level Two Covid 19 national lockdown measures announced a fortnight ago by a further two weeks. The situation will be reviewed thereafter to assess the progress we shall have made in order to move to a more relaxed level,” said the President.

President Mnangagwa said in the last two weeks, the country witnessed a decline in the number of Covid 19 positive cases, a sign that the preventive measures that have been put in place by government to curb the spread of the pandemic have been effective.

“In the last two weeks under Level Two Covid 19 lockdown, we have continued to see a steady fall in the number of new Covid 19 cases in the country. We have been averaging 238 new cases per day and a dramatic fall in deaths averaging four per day.

“This is an encouraging sign that the preventative measures that have been put in place by the government to try and curb the spread of the deadly virus, when followed through to the letter by all Zimbabweans, have been very effective,” added President Mnangagwa.

The President added that through concerted efforts by the government and stakeholders in the health sector, the country has managed to contain some Covid 19 outbreaks in schools before they had spilled into the communities.

Under Level Two lockdown, business hours remain limited to between 8am and 7 pm while curfew will be in force between 10 pm to 5.30 am. Social gatherings are limited to 100 people and non-essential businesses are supposed to have only half the staff on the premises.