HARARE — CABINET on Tuesday announced that there are no cases of monkeypox reported in Zimbabwe.
This comes as the global monkeypox outbreak that has so far been detected in 42 countries, including Zimbabwe’s southern neighbor, South Africa.
Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa, said Zimbabwe had put surveillance, laboratory testing and case management measures in place in preparation for any potential outbreak.
“The public is urged to put emphasis on implementation of Public Health and Social Measures that are currently being used for COVID-19 such as regular washing of hands and social distancing, since these measures have been proven to also work for monkeypox,” she said.
“Cabinet wishes to warn the public that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet. In view of the global outbreak of monkeypox, Zimbabwe should remain vigilant and strengthen COVID-19 testing at all levels. Provinces should come up with innovative strategies to increase vaccination coverage and focus on the elderly and those with underlying chronic health conditions.
“Implementation of all COVID-19 public health and social measures must be continued. Our country must take advantage of lessons learnt from the COVID-19 response and mount a strong monkeypox preparedness and response strategy. The Risk Communication Sub-Committee must immediately embark on a monkeypox information dissemination exercise.”
A at 27th June 2022, the country’s cumulative COVID-19 cases stood at 255 383 and 248 317 recoveries.
The recovery rate was 97%, with 1 517 active cases having been reported.
The number of new COVID-19 cases continued to decrease, with 552 cases having been recorded, compared to the 676 recorded the previous week, marking an 18% decline. An average of 79 new cases was recorded per day, compared to 97 new cases the previous week.
Furthermore, a total of 22 COVID-19-related new admissions were recorded during the week, compared to 34 the previous week. No patients were admitted to the intensive care unit.
