Quarantine security set to be tightened
QUARANTINE centres are to be made more secure and people will need to surrender travel documents, Chief Co-ordinator of the National Response to Covid-19 Dr Agnes Mahomva said yesterday.
Forty-eight people have so far escaped from quarantine centres, with Midlands having 18, Matabeleland North 16, Bulawayo six, Mashonaland West four and Matabeleland South one.
On Sunday, Government published names of the people who have escaped.
Some of the escapees are difficult to find as they supplied wrong addresses, and Cabinet resolved yesterday to collect travel documents for everyone taken into quarantine centres and hand them back after their quarantine period.
The six people from Bulawayo all gave fake addresses. They are Lucky Sibanda, Craig Khumalo real name Emmanuel Gandawa, Junior Khumalo, Polani Khumalo, Cornwell Mvura and Tendai Chigidi.
Dr Mahomva said she was working with the Ministries of Health and Child Care, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, and of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, to ensure maximum security at quarantine centres.
“When people are going into quarantine, they are following the laws of the land. When people escape from the quarantine centres, the Home Affairs ministry makes a follow-up and the people will be apprehended,” she said.
“A lot is happening at quarantine centres.
Every effort is being made to follow up on those who escape. If they are found guilty, they will be penalised accordingly.
“We are also ensuring that the quarantine regulations are well integrated and improved to ensure the facilities are secure.”
Government has warned of more Covid19 cases as more people return home, the majority of them from countries that have recorded high numbers of confirmed cases. A large majority of Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 confirmed patients have come from South Africa, Botswana and the United Kingdom, which have much higher rates of infection than Zimbabwe.
The quarantining process is designed to ensure they do not mix with other until it is shown they are safe.