Zimbabweans vulnerable after German national tests positive

  • German national stayed in Zimbabwe for nine days before presenting himself at a Windhoek hospital where he tested positive for COVID-19

ZIMBABWE‘s coronavirus clean slate is in question after a German national who recently stayed in the country for nine days travelled to Namibia from where he tested positive for the virus.

The President Emmerson Mnangagwa-led government insists there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country.

The latest revelation, however, flies in the face of any such suggestion and also raises questions around the country’s quarantine methods and COVID 19 detecting systems.

The incident comes after a British tourist to Zimbabwe tested positive upon return to the UK.

The tourist was booked at Ilala Lodge in the resort town. She was there from March 7 to 10.

The latest case of the German national unfolded in Namibia on Thursday.

He became the third person to test positive for the coronavirus in Namibia.

Speaking at a hastily arranged P,ress conference on Thursday, Namibia’s Health minister Kalumbi Shangula said the German national travelled from Germany to Amsterdam on February 24 and then to Zimbabwe on March 4 before entering Namibia on March 13.

He added that the German national has been isolated at a Namibian hospital and is currently in stable condition.

Zimbabwe’s government is now in a race against time to follow up on any contacts the German national may have had in the country to ensure proper quarantining and monitoring for symptoms.