Zimbabwe Records 60 New Deaths In Rising COVID -19 Cases

Posted by Daniel Jones African News, Featured, Latest Headlines, News Around Africa Tuesday, January 19th, 2021

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Zimbabwe Health ministry on Monday reported 60 deaths due to Covid-19 as the country battles the worst wave of the pandemic which has killed 773 since the first case was detected in March last year.

New cases and deaths have tripled to 27 892 and 773 from about 8 000 and around 200 respectively in December last year.

Until December last year, cases had remained a bit subdued but the influx of citizens returning from neighbouring Botswana and South Africa mostly fueled new cases, according to health experts.

In a daily update, the Health Ministry said 689 new cases and 60 deaths were recorded in 24 hours between Sunday and Monday.

The capital remains the hot spot and recorded 339 cases and 36 deaths on Monday.

“As of 18 January 2021, Zimbabwe has now recorded 27 892 cases, 17 372 recoveries and 773 deaths. In the last 24 hours, 689 new cases and 60 deaths were reported. All 689 are local cases,” said the Health Ministry.

The capital Harare, regarded as Covid-19 hotspot accounted for half the new cases and deaths.

Ten deaths were recorded in Manicaland province bordering with Mozambique.

The country’s national recovery rate is 62.3 percent while active cases stand at 9 747.

Since December, the country has been recording close to 1 000 new cases daily on average as the new wave hit the country.

Prominent individuals including government ministers, businesspersons and private sector executives have succumbed to the virus.