THIRTEEN staff members at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo and everyone at a retirement village in Suburbs where a 79-year-old man who succumbed to Covid-19 on Saturday lived, have been placed under isolation as more people he came into contact with are being traced.

Those asked to go under self-isolation include doctors and nurses who attended to the patient at the hospital.

The victim whose name has been withheld by health officials lived at Qalisa Retirement Village.

His family lives at another house in the same suburb.

The city’s rapid response team is still tracing a network of people who were in contact with the deceased so that they get tested for Covid-19 and their number is expected to increase.

Health officials are interested in examining private doctors, staff at pharmacies, family members, nurse aides and others at Qalisa as well as in Hwange where the deceased visited.

Although the victim did not travel out of the country, Government is looking into his travel history as he visited Hwange in Matabeleland North between March 14 and 16 where he is alleged to have met some tourists at a lodge in the mining town.

The victim who became the 11th patient to test positive for Covid-19 in the country and the first person in Bulawayo, was posthumously confirmed to have succumbed to the virus on Tuesday, making him the second person to die in the country.

A Chronicle news crew yesterday visited Mater Dei Hospital to assess the situation and observed that it had not closed its doors as alleged on social media.
Staffers who spoke to the news crew on condition of anonymity said an alert Covid-19 rapid response team disinfected the hospital and closed the ward in which the 79-year-old died soon after he succumbed to the virus on Saturday.

Bulawayo City Council director of health services Dr Edwin Sibanda said although Bulawayo had not yet received the Covid-19 results when the man died at Mater Dei Hospital on Saturday, they took precautionary measures by treating him as a suspected positive Covid-19 case even before results were released.

He said although samples from the victim were taken on Friday, there were challenges transporting them to Harare on the same day, as they rely on courier service providers.

Dr Sibanda said the samples were only sent to Harare for testing on Monday, when the patient had already died.

“But when he passed on the rapid response team was informed and went there and did all the disinfection as per protocol. Then the body was removed under the supervision of the environmental health officers and was taken to Bulawayo United Hospitals mortuary under strict conditions where it was kept, as we did not have the results that this was a Covid-19 case. But we thought it was likely to be a Covid-19 case so we treated it as if it was,” said Dr Sibanda.

He said when results were delivered confirming that the man had died of Covid-19 on Tuesday, the rapid response team started tracing those who had been in contact with the deceased.

Dr Sibanda said at Mater Dei Hospital, 13 people including doctors and nurses have had their samples taken for Covid-19 testing.

He said the victim first visited a private doctor in the city before going to Mater Dei Hospital.

“For example, there is a story that he was seen at a lodge in Matabeleland North and we have told the provincial rapid response team to start tracing those he might have contacted. The dates and places where he went or was suspected to have gone. So, they have to make follow ups of the possible contacts. So those in hospital that he got in contact with, samples were collected yesterday. In our last count last night, 13 people have had their samples and I’m sure today a few more samples should have been collected,” said Dr Sibanda.

He said the network of his contacts could be much wider and they were doing all they can not to leave anyone behind including his relatives and private doctors.

“When he continued feeling unwell he went to the hospital so we are talking of him starting from the hospital admissions, right up to the ward and eventually going to the Intensive Care Unit where a suspicion of Covid-19 was made and it is at that point that our rapid response team was alerted and came. Prior to that, all these people were not followed up,” he said.

Dr Sibanda said health workers were closely working with the victim’s family to cremate him in line with public health standards in view of Covid-19 and the procedure should have been done yesterday.