Own Correspondent|Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his South African counterpart on Monday made sweeping Coronavirus measurers as both countries battle with the deadly virus.

The two leaders addressed their nations in tense separate addresses almost at the same time on Monday evening.

Mnangagwa declared all of Zimbabwe’s borders closed for both inbound and outbound traffic except cargo and returning residents in an unprecedented step to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Mnangagwa also announced that bars, gymnasiums, swimming pools and movie houses were being shut down until further notice, on the same day that the country declared its first coronavirus death.

He said the measures were with immediate effect.

“While our borders remain open to essential traffic, both in the interests of our economy and that of corresponding economies in our region, we have decided to ban non-essential travel and traffic, both inbound or outbound except for the movement of cargo. The government will close all our borders to human traffic. This, however, will not affect returning residents,” Mnangagwa said in an address to the nation.

Returning residents “will be subjected to strict screening procedures”, Mnangagwa said, which includes “a rigorous enforcement of a one-day self-quarantine which must not be breached for whatever reason.”

Mnangagwa said his government was discouraging non-essential travel within the country, adding that social visits to relatives and friends should be avoided.

He went on: “With immediate effect, the government has put a blanket ban on gatherings around nightclubs, bars, beerhalls, movie houses, swimming pools, gymnasiums and sporting activities until further notice.”

Mnangagwa, noticeably leaving out church gatherings, said the measures “will be hard on all of us, but such tough measures will become necessary for our collective safety.”

Hospital visits will be restricted to once a day, and only one visitor would be allowed per patient, he said.

Gatherings will only be allowed for 50 or less people, he said, contradicting new regulations published on Monday which prohibit “all gatherings for whatever purpose.”

Mnangagwa said informal markets would remain open, but health personnel would be deployed to conduct random screening while public transport vehicles had to undergo “occasional decontamination.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that the government would impose a nationwide 21-day lockdown from midnight on Thursday to contain the coronavirus outbreak. In an address to the nation, Ramaphosa said the army would be deployed to assist the police during the lockdown. South Africans will still be able to leave their homes to buy food, seek medical care and collect social grants, Ramaphosa added.