By A Correspondent- There was confusion Tuesday afternoon when the Health Minister Obadiah Moyo told the Senate the Wilkins patient who fled the institution yesterday, is missing and needs to be found.
Minister Moyo was addressing the Senate when he said, “So we are looking for that absconded patient. …We still want that patient, we still want him to come back and we want to test that patient. So, on WhatsApp there are some messages coming through saying that someone fitting that description might have been seen at Chisipite and immediately harassed by environment officers to follow up with the police,” he added.
But at the time of the hearing, the man had 2 hours before been re-admitted at Wilkins Hospital.
Obadiah Moyo narrates how Wilkins Patient fled hospital yesterday, but also says they are still to be found. – Video credit @263Chat pic.twitter.com/YThK2aBz0y
— ZimEye (@ZimEye) March 10, 2020
He was spotted by a ZimEye reader who quickly alerted police.
It could not at the time of writing be established if the police are the ones who influenced or caused him to return to the hospital.
Our contributor told ZimEye: “just to let you know that l am the one who took those pictures and sent … them around. I also alerted the police so they are aware and taking action. Hope l find you well. The pharmacist confirmed that they were buying medicine that linked to the virus and that the pharmacy did not have all of it.
“I alerted the pharmacist that there was a patient who is suspected of having contracted the disease but ran before they were tested and confirmed. The description on the article matched the people l met that’s why l alerted my friends as well as the police. So just for your info and not confirming that this was the patient on the run, l confirm that it’s true an incident like that happened in the morning.”
Meanwhile, the latest development was confirmed by the City of Harare Health Director, Dr Prosper Chonzi who said:
“We are keeping him until we get results. Physically his temperature is normal and he doesn’t have any symptoms. The police are happy that he is now back at Wilkins Hospital.”