HARARE – Zimbabwe’s coronavirus cases breached 50 for the first time on Thursday after three more people tested positive for the respiratory illness.
The ministry of health said two of the new cases were recent returnees from Botswana who are being held at a mandatory quarantine facility, while one was a resident of Harare with no known history of travel.
The latest infections took the country’s case total to 51, of which four have died and 18 others have recovered.
In the region, South Africa continued to witness a sharp spike in new cases with 1,134 new infections on Thursday alone, taking the country’s cases to 19,137 including 369 deaths.
Botswana, which began easing a strict national lockdown on Thursday, has reported 29 cases including 17 recoveries and one death.
Zimbabwe’s northern neighbour Zambia reported 34 new infections on Thursday, taking the case total to 866 of which 302 have recovered while seven have succumbed to the global disease which had killed over 333,000 people from 5.11 million infections as of 8AM on Friday.
Mozambique had 162 total cases after reporting six new infections. Mozambique says it has not recorded any deaths and 48 people have recovered from the lung disease whose outbreak was first reported in China at the end of last year.
Regional countries have imposed lockdowns to try and restrict movement in the hope of slowing down the virus, which causes the lung illness Covid-19.
Experts believe the virus spreads mainly from person to person. There are several ways this can happen, including droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks; when you touch surfaces that someone who has the virus has coughed or sneezed on and then touch your nose, mouth, or eyes and when you breathe air that has the virus floating in it and it gets into your lungs.
Health officials emphasise regular washing of hands with soap and wearing a face mask in public.
