Another Kwekwe Poly Lecturer succumbs to covid-19

Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
AN automotive department lecturer at Kwekwe Polytechnic has succumbed to Covid-19 and is the second lecturer at the institution to die of Covid-19 within a month.

Lectures at the college have since been suspended as Covid-19 cases continue to increase among students and members of staff.

Chairperson of the Kwekwe District Taskforce on Covid-19, Mr Vitalis Kwashira confirmed the development saying the lecturer died on Thursday.

“I have received the news this morning. I am reliably told that he passed on at his home in Redcliff soon after he returned from Masvingo where he was marking examinations. This is a sad development indeed,” said Mr Kwashira.

He said Kwekwe Poly has been closed and students who tested positive have been isolated at the institution.

“Those students who tested positive are on isolation at the campus so they do not go back to the community,” he said.

The development comes as cases continue to rise in the mining town of Kwekwe which has since been declared a hotspot.

As at 2 July, Kwekwe had recorded 361 active cases, 30 deaths and 132 recoveries.

Cumulatively, the city has recoded 523 cases since 10 May when the town was placed under a localised lockdown.

The rate of response to vaccination by the Kwekwe residents is however worrying as only 21 people were vaccinated between 10 May and yesterday.

Zimra Kwekwe branch closed shop after some workers tested positive to the deadly virus.

The district taskforce has also upped their game in enforcing the lockdown, restricting unnecessary movement, clamping down on beer outlets as well as pouncing on illegal commuter omnibus operators.