ZIMBABWE: Zimbabwe has been on Level 4 lockdown from January 5 and was supposed to end on February 5. However, following the deaths of political figures, Zimbabwe has now decided to extend its level 4 lockdown by 2 weeks in an effort to alleviate the spike of COVID-19.
Acting President addresses the nation
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga delivered a live address on the public Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) on the latest extension of the level-four lockdown. Acting and Minister of Health, President Constantino Chiwenga said, “Even though the numbers we are losing to the pandemic are falling, we bemoan the fact that Zimbabweans are dying at all. Still, we need to stay the course by upping our vigilance, the war is not yet won.” Chiwenga also noted that the current lockdown had stabilized the situation amid a fall in the number of infections. Zimbabwe has witnessed a sudden increase in the COVID-19 cases this year.
COVID-19 statistics
Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 deaths have passed 1,000 as the country scrambles to contain a spike in infections of the virus. The lockdown came after the death of four government ministers due to COVID-19.
Vice-President Chiwenga said that the situation is worrisome as the cases continue to rise.
“In the last week, our new cases have been averaging about 300, with deaths averaging 20 per day. Cumulative cases as of January 1 were 14,084 and 369 deaths. As of January 28 cumulative cases 32,646 with deaths breaching the thousand mark to give you 1160,” he said.
Therefore, he announced that the government is in the process to bring the vaccine as the rollout plan. Along with this, a deployment strategy is also being finalized.
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SADC call for cooperation
South African Development Community (SADC) Chairperson, President Filipe Nyusi (President of Mozambique) has called for the Member States to cooperate and collaborate to fight against the pandemic.
“Following upsurging of COVID-19 cases, we must intensify cooperation and collaboration between Member States, through increased data sharing, policy harmonization and standardization, pooled procurement of essential medical and non-medical equipment to address the pandemic in a more effective way”.
“In this regard, we recommend the SADC Committee of Ministers of Health to establish a strong regional collaborative strategy which pools resources together to urgently acquire the vaccine for distribution to our citizens setting priorities in accordance with the level of risk,” he added.
On last week’s update, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 87,937 death in the continent, with Southern Africa being the most affected.
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