IN A stunning development, it has emerged that some of the
coronavirus testing kits that have been donated or brought into the country are
defective, the Daily News on Sunday can report.
The bombshell revelation — which comes as the global
pandemic is escalating — raises serious questions about the accuracy of the
total number of people in the country who are said to have so far tested
positive for the lethal virus.
The coronavirus pandemic has so far killed about 60 000
people, in addition to infecting more than 1,1 million others around the world.
To date, Zimbabwe has only reported nine positive cases of
the killer virus — as well as one fatality, that of prominent broadcaster
Zororo Makamba.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily News on
Sunday yesterday, Health and Child Care minister Obadiah Moyo confirmed that
there were defective rapid testing kits in the country, forcing authorities to
wait for the delivery of more reliable equipment.
“We received some kits which we are not using because we
found that they were defective.
“We are, therefore, waiting to receive definitive testing
kits because some of the rapid results testing kits we have give defective
results.
“This way, one person can test negative when one is
positive, and a positive person can test negative when that is not the case.
So, those tests are not reliable,” Moyo said.
“The only reliable testing that is taking place in the
country is being carried by the government and not private hospitals.
“As government, we are using the golden standard which is
definitive, although this takes five hours for results to show.
“We hope to get more testing kits so that we come up with
results early,” Moyo further told the Daily News on Sunday.
This comes as the government has taken a lot of flak for
allegedly understating the number of people who have been infected by
coronavirus.
It also comes as many health experts have argued that by
now, the country should have seen a significant jump in positive cases — as the
14-day incubation period, being the time the virus takes before becoming fully
blown, has long elapsed.
Zimbabwe is currently under a 21-day lockdown that was
imposed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa as a part of tough government measures
aimed at combating the spread of the disease in the country.
Moyo also told the Daily News On Sunday yesterday that the
government was hoping to decentralise the testing for coronavirus before
authorities embarked on an aggressive door-to-door campaign that would be
informed by the rate at which cases would be soaring.
“Our intention is to have door-to-door screening as soon as
possible, but we currently don’t have the kits to enable us to roll out such an
exercise.
“Once we secure those kits, we will be able to expand our
testing capacity. Our plan is to decentralise the testing process. We want
to ensure that we have testing capacity at each and every government hospital,
in every province,” Moyo said.
“We are in the process of decentralising the whole process.
Currently, we have the kits for PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing and the
PCR is the definitive testing (it is used to detect early infections).
“However, while it was being done just in Harare, the
ministry of Health has already entered an agreement with Nust (the National
University of Science and Technology) so that their equipment can be used at
Mpilo, where there is a level three laboratory.
“After that, we will then increase the number of testing
sites in Harare and then eventually go countrywide. This will be done in the
shortest time possible,” Moyo told the Daily News on Sunday further.
“In exposed areas like Beitbridge, we are going to start
with rapid testing.
“For rural areas like Gokwe, if a patient shows signs of
the disease we have the rapid response team that is in every province and those
teams will attend to any case.
“If the person is showing clinical signs of the disease,
they will be taken to a hospital and then comprehensive tests will be carried
out,” Moyo added.
As of the end of last week, Zimbabwe had tested less than
400 people cumulatively, reporting nine positive cases and one death.
In contrast, regional power and Zimbabwe’s biggest trading
partner, South Africa, had by yesterday recorded 1 505 cases of coronavirus —
with nine people succumbing to the killer disease, and 95 others said to be
recovering well from infections.
South Africa, which has also been applauded by the World
Health Organisation (WHO) for the manner in which it is tackling Covid-19, is
to conduct a comprehensive door-to-door testing exercise after deploying 10 000
field officers across its provinces.
Although the country’s hitherto striking doctors and other
health workers have since returned to work, they are still concerned by the
government’s failure to quickly decentralise the testing, screening and
isolation processes for coronavirus.
Presently, only Harare has the laboratory that is
conducting definitive testing for the lethal disease.
The treasurer of the
Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights (ZDHR), Norman Matara, told the Daily News on
Sunday that the country was still not adequately prepared to contain
coronavirus if its cases surged.
“As far as we are concerned, nothing has changed much in
the health sector. We still have many challenges. Protective clothing has been delivered, but I am not sure
if it will be enough if the situation demands heightened action.
“As a country, we are not prepared at all. Thereare no
isolation centres and provinces are still sending samples to Harare,” Matara
said.
“What is more, we are still to have functional intensive
care units,” he added.
The issue of how
ill-prepared Zimbabwe has been to effectively deal with Covid-19, was brought
to the fore last month following the death of Makamba — after he apparently
contracted the lethal virus in the United States of America (USA). Daily News
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