The country’s ninth confirmed case of Covid-19, a 50-year-old Harare man, died at Wilkins Infectious Diseases Hospital last night, eight days after his first symptoms appeared.

The man had returned from Britain and started showing symptoms on Wednesday last week. He alerted the local rapid response team, which went to assess him at home and collected samples for testing, which proved positive the next day.

Initially, the patient was being managed from home until Wednesday when his condition deteriorated resulting in him being taken to Wilkins Hospital, where he was admitted for critical care and management in the intensive care unit under the care of a specialist physician.

“The family has been informed and we are currently working with the family to ensure safe burial of his remains in line with regulations from our Public Health Act,” reads part of yesterday’s daily update from the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

The first death was recorded in Harare on March 23 and the second death occurred in Bulawayo on Saturday.