HARARE – Zimbabwe has been fiddling with coronavirus figures since May 23 after a shock spike in new cases, which left officials apparently in a state of denial.
The ministry of health was forced on Wednesday to confirm that coronavirus cases had more than doubled to 132, following the confirmation of 76 new cases.
On May 23, the ministry said there were no new cases, but officials now admit 12 people tested positive on that day.
A day later, the ministry, which releases daily updates on testing and results, merely stated that it had conducted 282 rapid diagnostic tests and 219 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests – but curiously did not reveal the results of those tests.
On the same day, sources told ZimLive that stunned Ministry of Health officials had decided to withhold results after being spooked by the record jump in cases. The previous daily high was five cases.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said the “unusual surge of positive cases” forced it to re-look at recently installed GeneXpert lab machines, suspecting contamination.
The identified patients were asked to provide fresh samples, and specimens were tested at more than one lab to confirm the positive result.
The health ministry said all but three of the 76 cases had come from Zimbabweans who recently returned from Botswana and South Africa, and are being held in quarantine centres across the country.
Twelve of the new cases are from a quarantine centre in Masvingo, 35 from Harare, three from Bulawayo, 13 from Matabeleland South, and one from Matabeleland North.
The shock new infections will shine a fresh spotlight on conditions at crowded quarantine centres, amid claims that the virus is being spread at the facilities.
More than 4,000 Zimbabweans have returned to the country in the past month, the government has said.
Returnees are being placed under mandatory quarantine for 21 days, but 118 have fled and are being sought by security agents.
Zimbabwe is under a coronavirus lockdown, though businesses have been allowed to extend their opening hours and other restrictions will be reviewed on Saturday.
Zimbabweans fear that a surge in cases could overwhelm a health service that was already struggling with shortages of medicines before the coronavirus outbreak.
Officials are also sensitive to the potential impact a spike in cases will have on the country’s plan to re-open its tourist attractions. Tourism is one of Zimbabwe’s main foreign currency earners.
