HARARE – A patient who was hospitalised suffering from malaria, before testing positive for coronavirus, has been allowed to return home.

The 52-year-old man from Murehwa, 90km north east of Harare in Mashonaland East, “responded well to the treatment for malaria” and “will continue with his (coronavirus) recovery under self-isolation at home,” the ministry of health said on Wednesday.

The man, who became the 32nd person to contract the respiratory illness in Zimbabwe, has no history of travel, the ministry said, adding that they had begun a process of tracing people who came into contact with him.

The patient was being treated at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals since April 24 where his initial diagnosis was malaria.

“He was tested for Covid-19 in line with intensified surveillance and active case finding strategy that is being implemented nationally. Under this approach, all patients admitted in hospital are being tested for Covid-19,” the health ministry said.

Parirenyatwa Hospital, the country’s biggest referral hospital, said it was carrying out a decontamination exercise at the hospital, including the “private room” where the patient was admitted.

As of Wednesday, Zimbabwe had 32 confirmed coronavirus cases including four deaths.

Already battling to contain the novel coronavirus, health authorities are also facing a surge in malaria cases which has claimed 152 lives this year.

The increase in malaria cases has raised concerns that some coronavirus cases may go unrecognised since some symptoms of the two diseases are similar.

As the country entered its fifth week of a five-week lockdown imposed to control the spread of the virus, the government announced a 45 percent rise in malaria cases compared to 2019 as the number of deaths increased more than 20 percent.

“This year the cumulative malaria cases in the country stand at 170,303 and the deaths are 152 compared to 117,715 and 127 in 2019 over the same period,” the health ministry announced.