Zimbabwe cabinet expected to announce way forward on coronavirus today

Zimbabwe is expected to announce the way forward on handling the coronavirus pandemic when its cabinet meets today.

The country has so far not reported any confirmed cases of Covid-19.

The Ministry of Health has responded to 7 suspected cases which all tested negative.

It received a report of a suspected case in Bulawayo involving a woman who travelled from South Africa to Zimbabwe on 9 March 2020.

She went to South Africa for medical treatment but later received a call from South Africa informing her that her doctor had been put on self-quarantine after one of the patients the doctor attended to had tested positive for Covid-19.

The woman was now under self-quarantine together with those she stays with.

The ministry yesterday received a report that a tourist who came to Victoria Falls on 7 March and left on 10 March 2020 for the United Kingdom had been found positive for Covid-19 and is currently being treated in the UK.

The ministry was investigating the people who were in close contact with this tourist.

Also yesterday two travellers who entered the country through RG Mugabe International Airport were detected by port health officials after the thermos-scanners picked them with high temperature.

One came from Shanghai, China aboard Ethiopian Airlines and the other from London aboard Kenyan Airlines.

They were isolated at Wilkins and are awaiting results.

The ministry has therefore recommended that:

• As we go into the Easter festivities knowing the huge gatherings that come with it, all gatherings of people such as church meetings, weddings, conferences and others are hereby being discouraged
• Non-essential travels to countries having local transmission are hereby discouraged
• All public institutions/buildings such as offices, supermarkets and banks should have hand sanitizers at all times
• People are advised to seek authentic information from the Ministry of Health and Child Care facilities and also on the official Ministry of Health, WHO and UNICEF websites.

The ministry said, to reduce the risk of infection with the Covid-19 it is important to:

• Avoid close contact with anyone with a cold or flu-like symptoms
• Cover the nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing with tissue paper or flexed elbow Wash hands with soap under running water after sneezing or coughing, when caring for the sick, after toilet use, before eating food, before, during and after preparing food, when hands are dirty and after handling animals or animal waste.
• Social distancing

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