By A Correspondent- Clueless Vice President and Health minister Government Constantino Chiwenga, is in a panic mode following reports that 98 per cent of Covid-19 tests conducted in Harare lately have been linked to the deadlier Delta strain.

“A genomic sequencing for COVID-19 samples collected in Harare revealed that 98% of the samples were of the Delta variant,” Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa announced early this week.

Mutsvangwa said the national genomic sequencing survey was also being conducted.

The Delta variant which originated from India is responsible for massive deaths that battered the populous Asian country before spreading to the rest of the world.

The variant is more transmissible and deathlier than the first variants of the world pandemic.

The government further reports that as of 2 August 2021, Zimbabwe’s cumulative Covid-19 cases stood at 110 855, with 79 420 recoveries and 3 635 deaths.

Harare Metropolitan Province has the most number of new infections sitting on 2 361 during the week ending 27 July 2021, to 11 652 in week ending 2 August 2021.

Mashonaland East Province had 1 523, Mashonaland West Province (1 136), Manicaland Province (1 361) and Masvingo Province (1 106).
The recovery rate stands at 72%, with 98% of Covid-19-positive cases being attributable to local transmission. The number of active cases stands at 27 800.

There was a slight decrease in weekly cases from 14 275 during the week under review.

In a bid to arrests fatalities linked to the dreaded disease, the government has ramped up its vaccination drive with a total of 1 674 710 people had received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 798 880 their second dose across the country.

The government says some 2 500 000 doses of vaccine are set to be acquired through direct purchase in August 2021, while a further 3 500 000 doses will be received during the month of September 2021 under the COVAX facility.