Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. By Staff Reporter – KWEKWE and Gweru polytechnics have been hit by Covid-19 cases, it has been established.
Addressing Midlands province Covid-19 taskforce members, Kwekwe City Council Director of Health Mary Muchekeza said the city as a whole was under the pandemic strain adding that Kwekwe Polytechnic was becoming a Covid-19 hotbed.
“The number of Covid-19 cases in Kwekwe is worrying,” she said.
According to Health Ministry statistics, there are more than 50 active Covid-19 cases in Kwekwe the highest number in the Midlands province.
Muchekeza cited worrying statistics on the Covid-19 situation over the past week.
“On Monday (last week), we had 11 new cases and one death, on Tuesday we had two new cases and no death, on Wednesday we had nine new cases and two deaths, on Thursday we had 16 new cases and one death while on Friday we had 25 new cases,” she said.
She singled out Kwekwe Polytechnic as the biggest worry.
“Our biggest worry is at Kwekwe Polytechnic. We did screen about 1 000 students and staff members at Kwekwe Polytechnic and 15 came out positive.
“The worrying thing about Kwekwe Polytechnic is that it’s not an entirely closed community, students come out and go out as they stay in Mbizo, Masasa and other residential areas. What is worrying is that these students are going back to the community where there are people,” she said.
Muchekeza said Kwekwe was generally complacent in terms of observing Covid-19 regulations.
“There is complacency in enforcing Covid-19 regulations. Otherwise, Kwekwe is infested with Covid-19 right now. We need people to be aware that Kwekwe is infested with Covid-19 right now,” she said.
The statistics come at a time when Kwekwe District Joint Operations Command chairperson Brigadier-General Simo Maseko has reported the arrest of some 200 violators of a lockdown order imposed on the Midlands city recently.
Meanwhile, as of Sunday, Gweru Polytechnic had two confirmed Covid-19 cases.
“There are two confirmed cases of Covid-19 at Gweru Polytechnic while testing and contact tracing is ongoing,” Midlands Acting Provincial Medical Director Reginald Mhene said.
Meanwhile, presenting the state of Midlands Covid-19 situation in Kwekwe last week, Mhene painted a grim picture of the Covid-19 menace in the province.
“As of now, there are 52 active cases in Kwekwe, 15 active cases in Gokwe South, 9 active cases in Gweru, 6 active cases in Shurugwi and 4 active cases in Zvishavane. We have 86 active cases in the province. In terms of mortality, we have recorded 82 deaths,” he said.
