Coronavirus: 13 000 Zimbabweans under monitoring and surveillance

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.”