ZIMBABWE is sitting on a potentially catastrophic Covid-19
timebomb as the government is fast running out of test kits and protective
clothing, resulting in a huge backlog of thousands of untested laboratory
samples countrywide, the Zimbabwe Independent can reveal.
For almost a month now, the government has missed its
target of testing 1 000 people per day.The government had targeted to have
tested at least 40 000 people by the end of April, but as of yesterday 34 707
tests had been conducted, consisting of 19 623 rapid screening tests and 15 084
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
As of yesterday, Zimbabwe had 51 confirmed cases, 18
recoveries and four deaths. Globally, there are 5,01 million Covid-19 recorded
infections, 1,91 million recoveries and 328 000 deaths.
Official sources directly involved in the management of the
highly infectious respiratory disease told the Independent in off-the-record
briefings this week that there was a real danger of an escalation in Covid-19
infections over the next two to three weeks owing to undetected cases.
The sources said the National Micro-Biology Centre at Sally
Mugabe Hospital in Harare is grappling with mounting samples which have not
been tested since last week.
As of Monday, the sources said, the centre had 4 000
samples collected in Harare alone that have not been tested. Figures from
Bulawayo and other centres were not immediately available.
“What this means is that all these people are freely
roaming the streets and, in the event that some of them are infected, they
could be spreading the virus. Remember that as of now, the country is only
testing those who develop symptoms similar to Covid-19 who want to know their
status. There is very little proactive testing going on,” a source said.
“There is no reagent now in the country as we speak and the
situation is really scary especially if you look at it in the context of the
decision by government to significantly ease the lockdown even without having
first satisfied the minimum requirements as stipulated by the World Health
Organisation. The effects are likely to be felt in two or so weeks,” the source
said.
The development comes after the closure of the Bulawayo
testing centre for almost a week, after the Mpilo Central Hospital’s National
Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory ran out of consumables.
The government had aimed at testing 1 000 people per day,
but is conducting only 443 PCR diagnostic tests, less than half the target.
Contacted for comment, Health and Child Care minister
Obadiah Moyo confirmed that the government is struggling to replenish the test
kits, saying its plan to increase testing capacity was now highly compromised.
“Going forward, we plan to increase the number of tests per
day but we are hampered by lack of access to test kits and PPE (personal
protective equipment),” Moyo said.
The recently appointed chief coordinator of the national
response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the Office of the President and Cabinet
Agnes Mahomva said Zimbabwe’s test kit challenges were not unique as many other
countries are experiencing the same shortages.
She said the government’s priority has now been refocussed
on ensuring the continuation of testing, regardless of the nagging challenges.
“For the nitty-gritties, you can ask Dr (Gibson) Mhlanga
(acting permanent secretary). We are continuing testing as we receive the kits
and it is not just Zimbabwe facing the challenges. It is no longer about having
stocks, but just enough to continue testing,” Mahomva said.
The government had planned to test at least 40 000 people
by the end of April, widening the criteria for those who qualify for testing to
include: all returning citizens, admitted patients over 60 years, everyone in
contact with a positive case, all patients with fever, among other conditions.
Furthermore, private companies that wished to resume
business were also ordered to test, sanitise and monitor the temperature of
employees, but very few firms can afford the high cost involved of procuring
the test kits.
Zimbabwe, which recently extended the begging bowl to the
International Monetary Fund for financial assistance, is heavily reliant on the
donor community for test kits as it cannot fund its own procurement.
According to a document that was leaked on social media
last month, Zimbabwe had only 500 test kits available on April 4 for use and
these were donated by the World Health Organisation, while the 20 000 donated
by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s Alibaba Foundation were not usable, as they
had missing reagents.
The business sector and donor community in the country have
been making frantic efforts to acquire more lab kits to increase Zimbabwe’s
testing rate.
The Bulawayo testing centre was being supported by the
National University of Science and Technology’s Applied Genetic Testing Centre
(AGTC) after it moved in some of its equipment to complement government efforts
in fighting the pandemic.
Indications are that Zimbabwe has a long way to go before
it can lift the Covid-19 lockdown as the situation on the ground has proven
that the country lacks the capacity to effectively test citizens as stipulated
by the World Health Organisation.
The WHO says any government that wants to lift restrictions
must first meet six conditions to attest that: health systems are able to
“detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact”; that
disease transmission is under control; that hot spot risks are minimised in
vulnerable places, such as nursing homes; and that schools, workplaces and
other essential places have established preventive measures.
The conditions also include ensuring the risk of importing
new cases “can be managed” and that communities are fully educated, engaged and
empowered to live under a new normal.
“One of the main things we’ve learned in the p
ast months about Covid-19 is that the faster all cases are
found, tested, isolated and cared for, the harder we make it for the virus to
spread,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. Zimbabwe
Independent
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