A 27-YEAR-OLD Harare woman suspected to have contracted
coronavirus after she visited Wuhan, China, has been readmitted at the Wilkins
Infectious Diseases Hospital, raising fears authorities could have prematurely
discharged her.
The woman was discharged last week after testing negative
to the deadly virus, which has so far killed over 2 800 people in China and
threatens to become a global pandemic.
In a statement on Thursday, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals
confirmed that the patient was readmitted at Wilkins Hospitals, where she was
referred back for re-quarantining as well as evaluation and treatment.
The statement did not disclose why it recommended the
patient to be quarantined, but only confirmed that she was attended to by a
psychiatrist in the casualty department.
“Since consultations with the City of Harare were
continuous throughout the process, the two parties eventually resolved that the
patient should be referred back to Wilkins Hospitals, where she is currently
admitted for comprehensive evaluation and treatment,” part of the statement
read.
“The City of Harare, which isolated and facilitated tests
on the patient, indicated that the patient had tested negative three times. The
first test was done in China, the second in Zimbabwe and the third was done in
South Africa.”
The statement triggered social media frenzy, with some
people questioning the country’s preparedness to handle the killer virus, amid
reports that the patient was readmitted after her condition deteriorated.
In China, there are claims some people test negative about
five times before eventually testing positive, raising fears Zimbabwe could
have prematurely released the first suspected case before conducting thorough
checks.
But Harare city health director Prosper Chonzi yesterday insisted
that there was no need for citizens to panic as the suspect’s specimens had
tested negative in three different tests.
“We did our test and her results were negative. We
discharged her and put her under surveillance until yesterday when she tried to
commit suicide. She took an overdose of amoxicillin and we took it upon
ourselves to assist her, took her to the nearest hospital which is Parirenyatwa
for assessment,” he said.
“We are clear that she is coronavirus-free. Right now, she
is at Wilkins and we are managing her just like any other patient. We are also
doing full infection screening and there is no need for the public to panic.”
Africa has recorded two confirmed cases of coronavirus so
far in Nigeria and Algeria, with both cases being Italian citizens. Newsday
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