The ManicaPost
Ray Bande in CHIMANIMANI
ZIMBABWE remains on high alert at all official entry points in view of the global health threat of the coronavirus, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Speaking to hundreds of Zanu PF supporters at Duri Business Centre in Chimanimani district at a rally to drum up support for party candidate, Cde Charlse Chinamira, ahead the of March 14 council by-election, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Cde Monica Mutsvangwa, said Zimbabwe has not confirmed a case of coronavirus.
“There is talk about coronavirus these days. We do not have a confirmed case of coronavirus here in Zimbabwe. Our Minister of Health has been tasked to update the nation on efforts the country is taking in preventing coronavirus. He has been doing so diligently. In fact, all the country’s entry points are on high alert, including the Robert Mugabe International Airport and all border crossing points like Forbes and Beitbridge where screening is taking place to ensure that we do not have coronavirus patients coming into the country unnoticed. We want to assure the nation that we are on high alert and rumours that the virus has been detected in Zimbabwe remain baseless,” she said.
Cde Mutsvangwa’s sentiments come hard on the heels of a second suspected coronavirus patient who has since been put under isolation at Wilkins Hospital in Harare while tests are being conducted.
The first case involved a 27-year old Harare woman who was suspected to have contracted the disease after visiting Wuhan, China.
The woman tested negative to the virus and was released from Wilkins Hospital shortly.
According to WHO, coronavirus belongs to a family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Statistics have it that coronavirus has killed over 2 900 people worldwide, the vast majority in mainland China.
