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Zimbabwe government imposed a 30-day lockdown to curb the spread of a second wave of Covid-19 (AFP)
Zimbabwe has extended its lockdown for two weeks to slow Covid-19 infections, fearing the new variants are circulating in the country.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the extension “would allow health workers to investigate and monitor the presence and circulation of new variants.”
Zimbabwe was forced to reintroduce a tough lockdown early last month following a spike in Covid-19 infections and deaths.
The resurgence of the pandemic has been blamed on the influx of returning residents from South Africa and the UK during the holiday season.
South Africa and the UK reported new, more infectious coronavirus variants among their populations late last year.
The Rwandan national airline, RwandAir, suspended flights to Zimbabwe and some of its neighbors last week, citing fears of the spread of Covid-19 variants.
Zimbabwe has seen a steady decline in Covid-19 infections and deaths in recent weeks, but President Mnangagwa has warned that the worst is not over yet.
“While the national lockdown targets are now in sight, the number of active cases and deaths, however, remains very high,” he said in a televised speech.
“These must come down further… Every life lost is a great loss for us.
“The extension (of the lockdown) will reduce the number of active cases and those still in incubation.”
As of February 15, Zimbabwe had registered 35,222 cases of Covid-19 with 1,410 deaths and 30,759 recoveries.
President Mnangagwa has eased some restrictions that will see government departments increase their capacity from 10% to 25% as of Tuesday.
The dusk-to-dawn curfew has been adjusted to last from 8:00 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.
Interurban travel and large gatherings, however, remain prohibited.
Zimbabwe received its first batch of Chinese Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine on Monday.
China has donated 200,000 doses of the vaccine and Harare says it has purchased an additional 600,000 doses which are expected to be delivered early next month.
The southern African country wants to buy at least 1.8 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine.
He plans to start administering Covid-19 vaccines to health workers and members of the security forces in the coming days.
President Mnangagwa said the country is expecting more vaccines from Russia, India and the UK.
“I am also happy that the second shipment of vaccines purchased from the People’s Republic of China will be received in a few weeks,” he said.
“As already mentioned, vaccines from other countries, namely Russia, India and the United Kingdom, are also on the way.
“This should see our vaccination rate moving us closer to the goal of herd immunity.”
Zimbabwe says it plans to vaccinate 60 percent of the population or 10 million people to gain herd immunity.
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