Govt expects 500k Covid-19 test kits
ABOUT 500 000 Covid-19 test kits are expected in the country in the next few days to cover the growing need for testing following an increase in local transmissions.
To date, over 1 611 people have tested positive to the global pandemic which has claimed 25 lives in Zimbabwe.
Over the past few days, the country has also recorded a lot of local transmissions which are yet to be tracked as members of the public continue flouting lockdown conditions.
Of those who died, some tested positive posthumously after routine post mortem tests were conducted.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 on March 20, 101 375 rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have been conducted and 41 438 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests.
Of the confirmed cases, 472 have recovered which constitutes 29,2 percent.
Acting Health and Child Care Minister Professor Amon Murwira said the country recently received 30 000 tests from China which are still in use.
“We are ordering lots of test kits and so far, we are expecting about 500 000 soon. Yes, there are shortages in the world we are not sleeping. We are making as much effort as we can, although we are not yet at our best,” said Prof Murwira.
“We are seeing a lot of detection from our laboratories which means something is happening.
However most importantly, Covid-19 is a personal battle and there is no way I am going to hold anyone and put a mask on them without their consent or tell them to practice self-distancing or wash their hands.”
He said the Government is still committed to giving information to ensure the pandemic is prevented as there is no cure to date.
“We cannot cure this thing at this moment we can only test, do temperature, prevent through the methods that I have spoken about. It is very important to work towards preventing Covid-19 and not blame the Government for things that people can do on their own.”
He said the testing of corpses for Covid-19 was not a sign of failure but Government’s policy on all community deaths.
“We have a policy of testing community deaths to find out what could have caused the death, it’s a policy and not a sign of failure. As you know, we are testing a lot that is why we have high statistics now. It doesn’t mean we are doing everything possible,” said Prof Murwira.
Prof Murwira said the Government was also working on ending the national nurses’ strike which enters day 30 today.
“I am really looking forward to this strike ending soon because I do not like the spirit of toxicity which has been characterising the Ministry of Health for a long time now. We are trying to make sure we clean up the ministry of the toxicity as much as we can because we cannot be pointing fingers at each other when we know we have nation to protect,” said Prof Murwira. — @thamamaoe