Covid-19 cases in schools continue to rise

Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor

COVID-19 cases in schools continue to spike with infections recorded at 582 institutions across the country.

Speaking at a post-Cabinet briefing, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Cde Monica Mutsvangwa said the country’s recorded new cases continued to be on an upward trend.

She noted that within schools the cumulative trend showed that the total number of schools affected now stood at 582.

“The total number of new confirmed Covid-19 cases reported through the school surveillance system increased to 1 526 compared to 1 086 the previous week. There were no deaths reported. The cumulative total number of confirmed cases now stands at 5 711 with 4 893 learners and 818 staff members spread across 582 schools.

“The number of new cases increased during the week under review, with 28 904 cases recorded compared to 5 055 cases the previous week. An average of 4 014 new cases were reported per day compared to 723 cases the previous week,” said Minister.

She, however, noted that the case fatality rate has gone down to 2,9 percent during the week under review from 3,4 percent the previous week.

Minister Mutsvangwa further revealed that areas that recorded the most significant number of new cases include Harare (8 363), Mashonaland East (3 546), Mashonaland West (2 992) and Bulawayo (2 670).