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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
The National Social Security Authority (NSSA) has availed its US$39 million hotel in Beitbridge for use by the Government as a Covid-19 quarantine centre for those entering or leaving the country via Beitbridge Border Post.
So far Beitbridge has not recorded any Covid-19 positive case.
The 136 room hotel was built under the Beitbridge Redevelopment Programme and was formerly leased by the Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) before shutting down in May 2016 following two years of successive losses.
Presently the hotel complex houses two banks, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority regional office and NSSA offices.
It is understood that the new development will ease the burden on the main district hospital which is a referral centre for 250 000 people from 21 wards in the district and an additional daily transit population of 13 000.
In a statement today NSSA said: “The former Beitbridge Rainbow Hotel will be used as a transit isolation centre to cater for
returning residents from South Africa.
“This means every Zimbabwean who passes through the Beitbridge border post from South Africa will be quarantined for 21 days at the NSSA facility as a precautionary measure. Zimbabwe’s southern neighbour is also battling to contain COVID-19 with an infection rate of over 1,000.”
The authority said it had also availed its Ekusileni Medical Centre in Bulawayo for the accommodation of patients undergoing treatment for COVID-19.
Online Reporter