(Last Updated on February 28, 2021 by GERALD NCUBE)
HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa is set to address the nation on the way forward as the current national lockdown is set to expire on Monday.
Zimbabwe has been on level four national lockdown since the start of the year following a surge of Covid-19 cases particularly during the festive season.
The tighter measures were initially set to expire on 15 February, however, Mnangagwa announced a two-week extension albeit with some adjustments which included relaxed operating hours for businesses and curfew hours.
Announcing the previous extension, Mnangagwa said while both infections and fatalities had decreased, there was still a need to remain cautious with experts also investigating the possibility of the South African variant which is said to be more transmissible.
Last week, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa confirmed that health officials had concluded that the SA variant now accounted for more than 60% of the country’s cases.
Zimbabwe has started it’s vaccination programme, with the Chinese donation of 200 000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine kick-starting the ambitious target of inoculating 10 million citizens.
To date, the country has recorded 36 058 positive cases and 1463 deaths since the first case in March last year.