Covid-19 cases surge

03 Dec, 2021 - 00:12 0 Views
Covid-19 cases surge Covid-19 cases in Manicaland more than doubled in the last two weeks of January

The ManicaPost

Ray Bande
Senior Reporter

A SURGE in Covid-19 infections has been recorded in Manicaland Province, with Mutare Polytechnic alone recording eight cases early this week.

Since the beginning of the week, Manicaland had recorded 337 active cases by Wednesday.

According to the Manicaland Covid-19 daily stakeholder update published yesterday (Thursday), 139 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, second only to Harare’s 246 cases.

The bulk of the cases were concentrated in Chikanga, Mutare.

Fifteen cases were recorded from a single business centre in Mutare District. One new recovery was reported, while no deaths have been reported in the province.

Health authorities in the province have since issued a stern warning to members of the public against poor health seeking behaviour.

Manicaland Provincial Medical Director, Dr Simon Nyadundu confirmed the increase in Covid-19 cases across the province.

He urged people to be more compliant in following Covid-19 protocols.

“We have experienced a spike of cases all over the province in the last few days. We want to encourage our communities to be more compliant in following Covid-19 protocols.

“We should strive to maintain physical distancing, avoid crowded environments, sanitise hands or washing them, wear face masks properly and consistently. Above all, we urge all those who have not been vaccinated to go and get vaccinated.

“Anyone experiencing flue-like symptoms should self isolate and get tested for Covid-19. We want to thank all the stakeholders and communities for the response thus far. Let us continue to work together to protect each other from Covid-19 and other public health emergencies,” said Dr Nyadundu.

He said the first case at Mutare Polytechnic was that of a student who did not disclose to health personnel at the college that she had tested positive.

 

“The situation report we have indicates that last week on Saturday, one student from Mutare Polytechnic who tested positive for Covid-19 at Victoria Chitepo Hospital was treated and went back to college, but did not disclose her status to the nurses on site.

“She disclosed her results the following day as the Mutare City Health team were doing a follow up on her case. She was isolated and four other close contacts were placed in quarantine for monitoring.

 

“On Monday, two more students who were not feeling well tested positive and other students staying in the same hostel with them were also tested. Five came out positive. Mutare Polytechnic has now registered eight cases in total,” he said.

Dr Nyadundu also confirmed that new cases are being recorded in other areas of the province.

 

“Seven more cases were reported in Mutare District. One case was reported at Sakubva District Hospital. Three cases were reported at Forbes Border Post Clinic, while three cases were reported at St Joseph’s Mission Hospital in Sakubva.

 

“There is also a patient from Munyarari who tested positive. Contacts of the patient were forwarded to the clinic for follow up and contact tracing,” said Dr Nyadundu.

Asked whether the detected cases have any link to the recently discovered Omnicron variant, Dr Nyadundu said that information is not yet available since genomics are done in Harare.

 

The discovery of a new and potentially more transmissible coronavirus variant by South African health authorities recently sparked a forceful reaction across the world, with a number of countries banning travellers from several Southern African countries, Zimbabwe included.

 

The World Health Organisation announced last week on Friday that it has designated the newly identified Coronavirus variant, B.1.1.529, as a variant of concern and named it Omicron.

 

Besides South Africa, the Omicron variant was detected in Botswana, Hong Kong and Belgium.

 

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