GOVERNMENT has self-quarantined about 3 375 people who have
passed through Zimbabwe’s ports of entry since the coronavirus was declared an
international emergency and will avail US$5,2 million to prepare against the
virus, Health minister Obadiah Moyo told Parliament yesterday.
In a ministerial statement issued in the National Assembly
yesterday, Moyo said at the moment, Zimbabwe was safe, but warned people
against travelling to China.
“Around 3 375 people, who passed through ports of entry,
were placed on self-quarantine and of these, 2 000 were students from China and
are on self-quarantine for 21 days,” he said.
“A budget of US$5,2 million has been submitted to the
Ministry of Finance, but this will be availed to us in tranches.”
Moyo said any Chinese visitors would first be put on 14
days self-quarantine in China and, if found free, they could travel to Zimbabwe
and further self-quarantine for another 21 days.
“We have to pray to God that this thing should not come to
Zimbabwe. I do not want to throw fear in you, this is a shocking disease as it
can spread like wild fire,” he said.
“Be aware that there is no vaccine yet for control of
coronavirus. What is available at the moment are anti-retroviral drugs, which
are capable of reducing or stopping the spread of coronavirus and a number of
cases were saved through this treatment. We have these drugs available in
Zimbabwe, but we are building on availability of a booster drug.”
Moyo said the only challenge was that the type of testing
platform that Zimbabwe was using took five hours for the results to come out.
“It is better than the test kits that took a week to
produce results. However, we are waiting for test kits that will only take 15
minutes. These diseases are caused by unnatural interaction with animals
(zooroneutic), as well as consumption of the most unusual animals like bats, snakes
and others,” he said.
Magwegwe MP Anele Ndebele (MDC Alliance) said government
seemed unprepared to deal with the virus due to the country’s porous borders.
He said Zimbabwe should completely ban any travel into the
country by people from China.
But Moyo said the Zimbabwean embassy in China was always in
touch, monitoring students there as well as other nationals.
Health authorities were in panic mode on Wednesday after
the first coronavirus scare case was recorded in the country involving a
27-year-old Zimbabwean woman who had travelled from China.
Harare City health director Prosper Chonzi said the woman
was set to be discharged by the end of the day yesterday after testing negative
for the virus.
He also said Wilkins Hospital, which had been shut down to
handle the suspected case, would re-open to ordinary cases by Monday.
“The suspect is free from the virus and will be discharged
today (Wednesday), while less serious cases of patients that were transferred
to Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital will be discharged during the
course of the weekend. By Monday, Wilkins Hospital will be fully functioning,”
he said.
On Wednesday, Health ministry director of epidemiology and
disease control, Portia Manangazira, confirmed the incident, but denied that
the suspect was showing signs of any respiratory related illness and that
samples had been sent for tests.
At least 2 004 people in mainland China have died from the
coronavirus, which has now spread to 27 countries across the world.
A total of 74 185 infections have been recorded in mainland
China, most of them in Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan, the epicentre of
the outbreak. Newsday
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