Zimbabwe’s government has tightened lockdown measures in the western part of the country, including the resort town of Kariba, after a spike in Covid-19 cases.
Tough lockdown measures have been imposed in the farming districts of Hurungwe and Makonde, which are top producers of tobacco, Zimbabwe’s largest earning agriculture export.
The area borders Zimbabwe and its northern neighbour Zambia.
The country is battling to prevent a third wave of the coronavirus, with about 2,000 cases recorded in the past week.
In a statement, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the new measures will be kept in place until cases decrease.
“Covid-19 cases continue to increase in [Hurungwe and Makonde],” Mnangagwa said in a statement.
“There will be intensified testing and contact tracing. All contacts will be quarantined, and all positive cases will be isolated. The ministry of health and child care supported by security agencies will enforce these measures.”
The rest of the country will continue under relaxed lockdown regulations.
A night curfew from 6pm to 8am has been imposed on the resort town of Kariba. Shops and businesses are to open for seven hours from 8am to 3pm.
Public transport has been instructed to halve passenger loads, while face-to-face meetings and loitering in public places has been banned.
Mnangagwa said offices in the affected districts must be decongested to carry only 25% of the workforce except for essential services.
Farmers in Hurungwe and Makonde delivering their tobacco to auction floors could continue to do so but under strict monitoring, Mnangagwa said.
A similar lockdown was also imposed in the city of Kwekwe earlier in May after several deaths from the Indian variant were recorded.
Latest statistics show that Zimbabwe has recorded 41,335 confirmed cases, including 37,143 recoveries and 1,656 deaths.
About 700,244 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19. To combat the pandemic, Zimbabwe’s government has committed US$100m to purchase vaccines and prevent more deaths. However, the public health system is in dire straits.
The country has used mainly the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine and last week received 25,000 Sputnik V doses from Russia.
Observers say that due to the poor state of the country’s public health sector the official data is underreported and more people are believed to be infected or have died from Covid-19.
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