- UPDATE ON ZIMBABWE’S RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK
Cabinet received an update on the country’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak, which was presented by the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, as Deputy Chairperson of the Ad-hoc Inter-Ministerial Task Force on COVID-19.
As of 20 September 2021, Zimbabwe’s cumulative COVID-19 cases stood at 127 938, with 120 946 recoveries and 4 567 deaths. The recovery rate stood at 95%, with 99% of cases being attributable to local transmission. Active cases stand at 2 425.
This week the number of cases recorded went up to 1 669. The education sector contributed significantly to this increase. Government has, therefore, instituted the following measures to contain the COVID-19 surge in schools:
1. enhancement of surveillance and contact-tracing at schools and in the surrounding communities;
2. increasing on-site COVID-19 testing of all suspected cases, contacts and surrounding communities;
3. isolation and management of all COVID-19-positive cases;
4. quarantining of those exposed;
5. restriction of movement into and out of the affected schools until the outbreaks have been controlled;
6. enhancement of public health and social protocols, including social distancing, hand washing, sanitization and wearing of face masks;
7. empowering teachers to detect and report suspected cases;
8. enhancement of awareness campaigns in schools and surrounding communities; and
9. vaccination of all eligible populations in schools and surrounding communities.
