By Anyway Yotamu and Tafadzwa Kufah
The government is monitoring more than 13 000 Zimbabwean nationals who entered the country through Beitbridge Border Post after South Africa entered a three-week lockdown on Friday last week.
Thousands of Zimbabweans came back home through Beitbridge Border Post after South Africa announced its three-week lockdown, as the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases continued to rise in that country.
Addressing journalists in Harare on Sunday 29th of March while updating the Harare provincial task-force on Covid-19, which includes Harare City Council, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the district administrators, Minister of Health and Child Care Obadiah Moyo, who is also a member of the inter-ministerial task-force, confirmed the state of affairs on returning Zimbabwean nationals from South Africa.
To date, Zimbabwe has recorded seven 7 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and one death.
Minister Moyo said the country had witnessed an influx of people passing through Beitbridge Border Post in the past week.
“We were advised initially that there was a group of 550 nationals who came from South Africa through Beitbridge border and recommended that the group be put under self-quarantine at controllable venues,” he said.
“The second group had 4 000 people who were coming from South Africa, then followed by another group of 9 000 who also came through Beitbridge Border Post.”
Minister Moyo emphasised that those people should exercise self-quarantine.
“I want to emphasise that we would like those people to really exercise absolute self-quarantine,” he said.
“We have advised the responsible authorities to ensure that they are monitored. They must self-quarantine.
“I want to re-emphasise that they have to practice self-quarantine. The relevant authorities will come and monitor them.”
