Zimbabwe says 1281 pupils and 131 teachers have tested positive for Covid-19 since schools opened

The Ministry of Health today said 1 281 pupils and 131 teachers had tested positive for Covid-19 since schools opened on 30 August up to yesterday.

It said most of the cases were at boarding schools and were mild and therefore did not require hospitalisation.

There have been no deaths so far.

There were 330 new cases yesterday, 229 of them at schools.

The ministry said it had put in place the following mitigation measures:

1. Increased COVID-19 testing of all suspected cases on-site.
2. Isolation and management of all positive cases at the affected schools.
3. Quarantine of the all learners that have been exposed at their schools.
4. Restriction of movement into and out of the affected learning institutions/ schools until there are no more new cases. This includes prohibition of visitations by parents.
5. Enhanced public health and social measures including physical distancing, corhoting, hand washing and sanitization and proper wearing of face mask and exercising good hygienic standards.
6. Vaccination of eligible population within the schools and the surrounding communities
7. Increased awareness on COVID-19 in the schools and surrounding communities.

Zimbabwe has approved the vaccination of teenagers from 14 which would cover most of those in secondary school upwards.

It has purchased enough vaccines to inoculate more than six million people but has so far dispensed just over 5.1 million doses with nearly 2.2 million people now fully vaccinated and just over three million having received one dose.

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