Chronicle Editor
Sunday News Correspondent
40-year-old Lina Muroyi is apprehensive. She undertook tests for Covid-19 a week ago but her results are not yet out.
She has been battling a bad cold and suspects it could be Covid-19.
But with her results still pending, Lina and her doctor are shooting in the dark. They have no clue what is afflicting her.
The 40-year-old mother of two underwent mandatory testing after coming into contact with a colleague who tested positive for the virus.
She has since undertaken precautionary self-isolation, away from her two sons. But while she isolates, anxiety is getting the better of her.
Lina is not alone in this pickle. A number of Zimbabweans who have taken Covid-19 tests at Government institutions are experiencing delays in getting results.
In some cases, patients get to fully recover before getting their results.
The delays are pushing many to private health facilities, where they part with no less than US$60 for a Covid-19 test.
With infections now on the increase, experts are worried the country may not be testing enough to determine the spread of the virus.
Since March last year, Zimbabwe has recorded over 25 000 Covid-19 cases. Cases started going up after the festive season, with an average of about 1 000 cases being recorded daily.
World Health Organization country representative to Zimbabwe Dr Alex Gasasira said countries can only determine the extent of the outbreak through testing.
“It is always better for countries to scale up testing in other to have the most accurate assessment and response to Covid-19 outbreak,” he said.
“We expect the Government through Ministry of Health and Child Care to intensify surveillance for Covid-19 throughout the country including at border points, schools and health facilities, the number of tests being conducted will increase further,” added Dr Gasasira.
Zimbabwe’s Vice President, who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care Rtd General Dr Costantino Chiwenga agrees with Dr Gasasira.
He said on Friday, “Testing is an important strategy to contain or slow the progression of the pandemic in society”.
Executive Director of the Community Working Group on Health Itai Rusike believes Zimbabwe is not conducting enough tests.
“Testing is a cornerstone in public health planning. The rate for antigen testing for Covid-19 in Zimbabwe is however still very low.
“We are not testing enough. A lot of cases maybe going unreported because of that. We need to test more people,” he said.
But Rtd Gen Dr Chiwenga thinks otherwise, but highlighted plans to increase the country’s testing capacity.
“I am yet to come across a country or society on this planet, which claims to be having adequate Testing Equipment.
“Government is seized with the requirement to further enhance our Testing Capacity. Currently, we have a capacity of testing at least 6 000 people per day,” said the Vice President.
Public health expert Dr Solwayo Ngwenya sounded an ominous warning, if the country slackens on its response to the pandemic.
“Zimbabwe and the whole African continent are tottering on the brink of a major catastrophe.”
The second wave will be a sudden, blistering, flattening strike, killing many people. Be warned. Prevent the further spread this terrible virus,” he said.
Lina’s case is evidence more needs to be done on the ground to curb the spread of the virus.
While experts have emphasized the need for Zimbabwe to expand testing first before making any other intervention, Lina’s experience with results points to the country’s limited capacity to test widely.
But further observed, “the testing shortfalls in Zimbabwe suggest that the need and demand for essential diagnostics (tests and reagents) is not being met”.
In the meantime, Lina is still waiting for her results.
Zimbabwe Medical Association President Dr Francis Chirowa weighed in. “Delays in turnaround time means delays in medical intervention. Results should come out in the shortest possible time”.
But just how have other countries coped with high demand for testing?
The United Kingdom, one of the countries that have been worst hit by the virus globally, is a case study for countries like Zimbabwe.
There is more to learn from the UK in as far as wide coverage of testing is concerned.
The European country has rolled out Point-of-Care Covid-19 testing using the SAMBA II technology.
Experts note that the technology is best used where a quick result is needed for meaningful action, and timeous intervention.
Lina’s case, where she is exhibiting symptoms, is an example of when such technology is useful.
Zimbabwe has 125 SAMBA II machines at more than 20 health centres countrywide.
In fact, Zimbabwe is one of the first countries in Africa to roll out Point-of-Care (POC) HIV testing using the SAMBA II.
The same technology can also be used for Covid-19 testing, with a turnaround time of 75-90 minutes.
Other tests take about 5 hours to 24 hours or even longer, like in Lina’s case.
With SAMBA II, Lina could have received her results within 75-90 minutes and clinical intervention could have come to her much earlier.
Zimbabwe can leverage on this technology to expand its testing capacity and ensure timeous release of results.
Each SAMBA II machine can carry out around 15 tests a day.
With 125 machines readily available, Zimbabwe has the capacity to carry out an additional 2 000 tests daily.
Clinical studies carried out in the UK with 149 participants showed that SAMBA II had 96.9 percent sensitivity (accurate identification of positive cases) and 99.1 percent specificity (accurate identification of negative cases).
SAMBA II technology was developed by Diagnostics for the Real World, a spin-off company from Cambridge University.
CEO of Diagnostics for the Real World Dr Helen Lee said, “Our goal has always been to make cutting-edge technology so simple and robust that the Samba machine can be placed literally anywhere and operated by anyone with minimum training.”
The SAMBA II Point-of-care machine can be operated by healthcare workers within the hospital.
It is different from specialized and centralized laboratories, where backlogs often result in delays.
Rusike acknowledges that Zimbabwe’s capacity to test large scale for Covid-19 remains constrained and maybe an albatross to the country’s efforts to contain the virus.
He said, “While Zimbabwe is having to make most effective use of test resources to detect and manage the Covid-19 outbreak, given the rising level of local transmission within the local population, any shortfall in diagnostics is now a critical constraint for effective public health prevention through test, trace and isolate/ quarantine strategies”.
SAMBA II technology could help authorities in Zimbabwe expand testing and case identification to get a true picture of the pandemic.
Bongani Ndlovu