The strain was confirmed after samples taken from a Kwekwe
man who died after contact with a niece, who had just returned from India,
tested positive to COVID-19.
Robson Kadenhe (76) of Chicago Plots along Gokwe Road, who
was a hypertension patient, died last Wednesday after testing positive to the
virus.
Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also Health
minister, yesterday confirmed the presence of the variant in Zimbabwe.
“Genomic sequencing test was carried out on samples
collected from a reported focalised outbreak in Kwekwe which was linked to a
traveller from India on the 29th of April 2021, a high risk COVID-19
transmission area,” Chiwenga said.
“The test conducted revealed that the B.1.617 variant
predominantly from the Republic of India was detected at the focalised outbreak
in Kwekwe.”
He added: “The nation is therefore, advised that this
variant B.1.617 is now in Zimbabwe.
“The following travel advisory is, therefore, being issued,
people travelling from or transiting from India will be subject to mandatory
quarantine at a designated quarantine centre and at their own cost. These
travellers will be subjected to a COVID-19 test on arrival despite the status
of their travelling certificate.”
Kadenhe’s wife, Mary also tested positive, but their niece
Nataly Kadenhe (21) tested negative to the disease.
Nataly, according to a Kwekwe City Council health report
released last Friday, had returned from lndia on April 29. After
contact-tracing, nine people have since tested positive to the novel
coronavirus.
According to reports, an environmental health technician at
Kwekwe City Health, Zvichauya Midzi of Msasa, who had contact with Kadenhe and
his niece Nataly, while processing their business licence, tested positive on
Wednesday at Cimas Laboratory.
The variant which was first detected in India in February
has gone global, spreading to dozens of countries raising fears that the strain
will overwhelm healthcare systems and potentially undermine the rollout of
vaccines.
The Asian country now accounts for 50% of COVID-19 cases
and 30% of deaths from the virus globally, according to the World Health
Organisation (WHO).
In Singapore yesterday, government closed all schools
saying the B.1.167 variant was hitting children more and the country was
preparing to vaccinate them.
Experts believe that the B.1.617 variant is behind a surge
in infections seen across India in recent weeks, killing more than 4 000 people
a day. The number is set to rise amid reports that the virus was now spreading
to rural India.
Travellers coming into the country from other countries are
required to present a COVID-19 PCR test done not more than 48 hours from the
time of departure.
Zimbabwean health experts have warned the public not to be
complacent as the variant might hit the country hard, adding that another hard
lockdown was on the horizon.
Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe
Association president Johannes Marisa said the Indian variant was more virulent
and transmissible and would be indiscriminate.
“The Indian strain or mutant is called B.1.607 it has been
shown to be 50% more virulent than all the existing COVID-19 strains. It has
high transmutability and chances of it affecting the old age are very high.
That is what I want to take note of. It can also affect all age groups,” Marisa
said.
Community Working Group on Health executive director Itai
Rusike echoed the same sentiments saying it was important that Zimbabweans
should be vigilant and exercise extreme caution.
He said the situation could be worse because most Zimbabweans
were resisting vaccination.
“It is not encouraging at all that only about 600 000
people have been vaccinated since February, these figures are still very low
and it will be a tall order for Zimbabwe to move towards achieving herd
immunity,” Rusike said.
“We should take a deliberate effort to make sure that there
is a trickle-down effect of the vaccination roll-out programme to the rural
communities and townships where the majority of the people live.”
He added: “The current national vaccination rollout
programme seems like is biased towards urban communities as some rural areas
including the resettlement, farming and mining areas have not yet been given
the opportunity to be vaccinated, including the information on the benefits of
being vaccinated, yet we all know that there are more people in the rural areas
than urban centres.” Newsday
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