by Christopher Makaza
Government has warned individuals who illegally announce COVID-19 results on social media, highlighting that only the responsible authority had the mandate to do so.
Presenting a weekly report on the National Response to the COVID-19 outbreak during the Twenty-sixth Post Cabinet Press Briefing in Harare yesterday, Defence and War Veterans Affairs Minister who is Acting Chair of the Ad-Hoc Inter-Ministerial Task Force, Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri revealed that Rapid Response Teams would be equipped with the necessary resources to effectively carry out their duties amid a spike in cases of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
"The initial communication of COVID-19 results shall be made by the Secretary for Health and Child Care and appropriate action will be taken against those who violate this standing directive.
"The Rapid Response Teams will be provided with the vehicles and allowances necessary to enable them to carry out their duties efficiently. Social workers and other categories of staff providing documented COVID-19 frontline services at quarantine centres, public institutions and other areas will receive same allowances as those given to health workers, “said the Minister.
The Minister further highlighted that, as part of Government measures to Control the spike of COVID-19 cases and deaths, COVID-19 hotspots shall be quickly analysed with a view to implementing stricter lockdown measures, so as to ensure behaviour change towards the disease in the areas.
The Cabinet also agreed that, holding of Virtual meetings shall be enhanced and that all Ministry staff reporting for duty shall be tested before assuming duty, while the outgoing group of workers is tested before leaving and upon return.
Minister Kashiri also revealed that the Government was expediting the secondment and recruitment of additional staff such as nurses and laboratory scientists, so as to strengthen health delivery system and national response to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Currently, the country has recorded 2704 COVID-19 confirmed positive cases, 542 recoveries and 36 deaths.
Harare, Bulawayo and Gweru have been declared as COVID-19 hotspots. Most of the local cases are in Bulawayo with 667, Harare 601 and Gweru 168. The Government is also expediting efforts to put in place Rapid Result Test Teams to facilitate localised lockdowns in hotspot suburbs of the three cities.
Local COVID-19 cases have increased by 112 percent from 791 to 1675 during the past week. The Government, however, continues to do all it can to control the spread of the virus, including availing adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in all health centres country-wide, as well as minimizing unnecessary movement of people.
