Zimbabwean Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa on Wednesday said the government is intensifying implementation of COVID-19 standard operating procedures in all schools following the outbreak of the pandemic at some boarding schools, reported CGTN Africa.
During a post-cabinet media briefing, Mutsvangwa said 145 students at a boarding school in Manicaland Province and another 91 learners at a boarding school in Matabeleland South Province were found to be COVID-19 positive last week.
The Zimbabwean minister, however, reassured that the situation is under control and all the cases are mild and asymptomatic.
“The Ministry of Health and Child Care is testing and vaccinating members in the adjoining communities where the schools are located,” she said adding that all those found positive have been quarantined.
Mutsvangwa warned that schools found violating COVID-19 preventive measures will be sanctioned. Zimbabwean schools reopened last month after almost a year of closure due to the pandemic.
Zimbabwe has recorded 37,875 COVID-19 cases, 35,058 recoveries, and 1,554 deaths so far since the start of the pandemic in March last year, according to Ministry of Health data.
The government began its coronavirus vaccination campaign on Feb. 18 after it received Sinopharm vaccines from China. About 288,229 and 36,778 people have received their first and second doses respectively.
Mutsvangwa said the cabinet has decided to defer the reopening of bars and nightclubs until further notice due to the threat of the third wave of the pandemic.
She also said police had been directed to increase surveillance on public transporters following an increase in the flouting of COVID-19 prevention measures in the public transport system.
Last week, the Zimbabwean government released 320 prisoners from its biggest prison in line with its plan to ease overcrowding and combat the spread of Covid-19 in the country’s jails. Under the presidential amnesty, an estimated 3,000 prisoners could be released.
