By A Correspondent- Information ministry permanent secretary Nick Mangwana has revealed that according to a recently published article, some of the COVID-19 symptoms mimic food poisoning.
In a tweet Friday afternoon, Mangwana said the genomic structure and symptomalogy of coronavirus is said to be changing where some of its symptoms are presenting as food poisoning.
The development comes amid reports by the late minister Perrance Shiri’s family that their relative died of suspected food poisoning.
The family of the late retired Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) Commander, and Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement’s account was however contradicted by President Emmerson Mnangagwa who alleged that the fighter in the liberation struggle had succumbed to COVID-19.
Speaking before the post-mortem results were out, family spokesperson Benjamin Chikerema (Junior) said that the doctors who initially attended to him also suspected food poisoning.
He said:
We have noted social media reports of COVID-19 suspicions. Although we cannot rule that out, what we know for now is that he started vomiting severely and was attended to by doctors who suspected food poisoning.
He started vomiting and was taken to the doctors who said they suspected he had eaten poisoned food. Around 3 am, he started having difficulties breathing and died when he was being taken to a Chinese facility.
Said Mangwana:
The genomic structure and the symptomatology of coronavirus is said to be changing. Some of the symptoms are said to even mimic food poisoning.”