Zimbabwe on Friday revised downwards its number of
coronavirus cases to 28, saying a positive case had been counted twice.
The Health and Child Care ministry had earlier reported
that the country’s coronavirus or Covid-19 cases had risen to 29 from the
previous day’s total after a patient tested positive in the second city of
Bulawayo.
“The ministry would like to report that of the 101 PCR
tests done in Bulawayo, which had pending results on April 22, one was not for
a new case but from a retest of a case that had been reported previously,”
reads the statement.
“This reduces the cases of Bulawayo from 11 to 10 and
nationally from 29 to 28 since the Covid 19 outbreak.”
It has also been noted that the government’s figures for
tests are also not accurate.
On Monday, the government said it had conducted 3 308
tests, the following day it said 841 tests were conducted.
Cumulatively, that means 4 149 tests were conducted, but
government records said 4 159 tests were done.
When asked about this, a government official said it was
probably a typographical error, which was going to be corrected.
However, that error remains uncorrected. Efforts to get an explanation from officials have so far
drawn a blank.
Zimbabwe recorded its first coronavirus case on March 20
after a Victoria Falls resident, who had travelled to the United Kingdom tested
positive.
The country has since recorded four fatalities, with the
latest case being the mother of a former minister Sylvester Nguni.
Nguni’s mother had no history of travel and her family said
she had been confined to her Mhondoro rural home since the country went into a
lockdown on March 30.
Two people have since recovered from the flu-like disease
that was first detected in China late last year.
Last weekend, President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced the
extension of the lockdown, which was due to end on April 19, extending it to
May 3.
Zimbabwe like South Africa is most probably going to
gradually reopen the economy.
The government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak has
been routinely criticised, with authorities being accused of not doing enough
to combat the spread of the disease that has killed more than 192 000 people
across the globe, while 2,8 million infections have been confirmed.
So far, there is no cure for the disease, while a vaccine
has proved elusive. Estimates say at the earliest, a vaccine will only be ready
in 12 to 18 months. Standard
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