HEALTH authorities in Masvingo province are worried about a new surge in Covid-19 infections after the opening of schools early this month.
MORRIS BISHI
Last week, the country recorded 1 971 new cases of the respiratory infection and, of that number, 642 of the cases were in Masvingo followed by Manicaland (402) and Mashonaland East (280), making Masvingo the province with highest new cases at the moment.
Health officials are attributing the latest surge in the province to the opening of borders since Masvingo is a gateway to South Africa. A large number of people from Masvingo stay in South Africa because of the search for greener pastures.
Masvingo provincial Covid-19 taskforce spokesperson Rodgers Irimayi told The NewsHawks that the authorities are concerned by the recent increase in new infections which surged last week and is continuing. He attributed the rise to reluctance by the public to adhere to government set guidelines aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
“It is worrying to note that our province is recording an increase in Covid-19 infections and we attribute this surge to reluctance since we are now witnessing large gatherings without the observation of government set guidelines. It is important for people to maintain social distancing and follow the WHO (World Health Organisation) and government Covid-19 laid down standard procedures. Reluctance puts everyone at risk of contracting and spreading the virus so we all need to remain vigilant because the virus is still among us.”
“The most important option is to be fully vaccinated. The ministry of Health is now on the third jab for those who received the first and second jabs. It is important for people to boost their bodies’ immune systems to be able to fight the viruses,” said Irimayi.
A senior health official in the province told The NewsHawks that the latest surge in cases coincided with the opening of the Beitbridge Border Post through a cabinet directive last week, raising fears that many people are coming into the country with the authorities failing to test them.
On Monday, the province recorded 63 new cases with 37 cases recorded from schools, 88 cases were recorded on Tuesday and, of that figure, 27 were from schools. Other districts failed to submit their statistics.
