Paul Nyathi|President Mnangagwa yesterday expressed concern over increases, almost daily, of Covid-19 confirmed cases.

The President said this while launching the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services’ Call and Data Centre that was sponsored by Innscor Africa and Liquid Telecom.

“It (Covid-19) has just begun to attack Zimbabwe and the spike is beginning to show an upward trend in our country. Yes, we have introduced a lockdown some two weeks ago but we are realising now that the pandemic is now more serious than at the time we introduced the lockdown,” he said.

According to an online world country by country count of Coronavirus figures, Zimbabwe now has 24 confirmed Coronavirus Cases three deaths and two recoveries.

THE number of people infected with Covid-19 in Zimbabwe shot up on Wednesday after five more people tested positive in Bulawayo out of 23 samples taken from the National TB Reference Laboratory at Mpilo Central Hospital.

All five Bulawayo cases were due to local transmission.

Bulawayo, which has 10 confirmed cases, has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country followed by Harare, which has eight cases. Mashonaland East has four confirmed cases wile Matabeleland North has one case.

Zimbabwe began a 21-day nationwide lockdown on the 30th of March and set to end midnight this Sunday.

At the start of the lockdown, the country had recorded seven cases and one death and these figures have since gone up threefold despite the lockdown.

Earlier this week President Emmerson Mnangagwa indicated that the Government will be reviewing the national lockdown on the 20th and will consider the possibility of an extension.

Many countries that have had strict lockdowns are now deciding whether to extend them, or impose more restrictions, or ease restrictions.

The Secretary-General of the World Health Organisation last Friday advised that countries should ensure that the following criteria are met before they lift restrictions:

• Covid-19 transmission is controlled
• Their health systems have the capacity to detect, test, isolate and treat every case of Covid-19 and trace every contact of those infected.
• Outbreak risks are minimised in special settings
• Preventative measures against Covid-19 infection are in place in essential places that people go to such as workplaces, schools, etc.
• Importation risks are managed
• Communities are fully educated and engaged to adjust to the “new norm”.

Obviously Zimbabwe does not fulfil any of these criteria, so extending the lockdown seems necessary. The spread of Covid-19 is probably just starting in Zimbabwe.

Our health services are not equipped to handle a large pandemic, therefore containing its spread is still vital. But it needs careful thought and plans put in place. It also need government to fully explain their decisions.