The Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail Reporter
ZIMBABWE has recorded more than 5 700 new cases of Covid-19 this year, at an average of 31 cases a day.
The cumulative number of cases of the respiratory disease in the country since the first case was reported on March 20, 2020, stood at 265 506 as of Thursday last week, up from the 259 770 that had been reported at the end of December last year. In total, 5 706 have succumbed to the illness, 75 of them over the last six months. The bulk of the cases have been reported in Harare, where 49 302 people have tested positive, with Mashonaland West province (32 107) reporting the second highest number of infections since the onset of the global pandemic.
Manicaland province has reported 31 259 cases in total, the third highest in the country; while Mashonaland Central province has the least number of cases, at 14 783. Data from the Ministry of Health and Child Care also shows that only South Africa (4 063 863), Zambia (343 012) and Botswana (329 727) have recorded more cases of Covid-19 than Zimbabwe among a sample of seven countries in the region. There are fears that the current winter season could lead to a rapid increase in new infections. Chief co-ordinator of the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the Office of the President and Cabinet Dr Agnes Mahomva called for vigilance.
“Cabinet has always urged Zimbabweans to remain vigilant because Covid-19 is still with us,” said Dr Mahomva.
“With the winter season upon us, we have been recording a few cases around the country in the form of flu, which may be Covid-19 in common colds. People should visit vaccination points where third doses of the Covid-19 vaccine are still available; we still have a lot of vaccines in our facilities, hence we call on people to get vaccinated.”
In total, 7 378 527 people have received at least the first dose of the vaccine, while 5 538 536 got the second dose. In addition, 2 186 211 people have received a third dose of the vaccine.
Added Dr Mahomva: “Government will continue monitoring trends in order to ensure scientific decision-making.”
