Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
VICTORIA Falls residents have started receiving their second Covid-19 doses following the rollout of mass vaccination last month, amid calls especially for schools in the province to be vigilant and strictly adhere to Covid-19 health protocols to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
More than 1 000 people had received the second dose by Wednesday after the second round opened on Tuesday.
This comes as health authorities in the province are investigating a suspected Covid-19 case after a pupil showed symptoms of the deadly pandemic.
Government chose Victoria Falls city for the launch of the mass vaccination targeting all eligible residents in the country’s prime resort city and President Mnangagwa received his first jab during the launch.
This was a month after Vice-President Costantino Chiwenga, who is also Health and Child Care Minister had received his first jab which was followed by the vaccination of frontline workers, the elderly and people with underlying conditions.
Zimbabwe’s first Covid-19 case was reported in Victoria Falls when a local resident who had visited UK tested positive upon his return in March last year and became known as patient Number One.
The province was hard hit by Covid-19 last year when pupils and staff at John Tallach tested positive resulting in premature closure of schools.
Matabeleland North Provincial Medical Director Dr Munekai Padingani said besides the suspected case at a school which he said cannot be mentioned at least for now, the province had kept a clean sheet in schools so far unlike last year.
He commended schools for abiding by health protocols prescribed by Government to prevent new cases.
“We are in the second phase of vaccination where we are targeting teachers, police and security services, people from the courts, those with chronic illnesses and the elderly. More than 36 000 people have been vaccinated so far in Matabeleland North.
“In schools it’s quiet but we received a call today from one of our schools where a child is suspected to be showing symptoms. We can’t say anything for now but we are investigating the issue before we confirm and give details,” said Dr Padingani.
He said the province has nine active cases and most of them are in Hwange District which has a cumulative total cases of 471 and nine deaths since the outbreak.
Hwange and Umguza recorded more cases than other districts in the province because of proximity to the borders and the John Tallach outbreak last year.
A number of schools have recorded Covid-19 cases with Embakwe High School in Mangwe District in Matabeleland South recording 91 cases last Saturday.
Sacred Heart in Esigodini in the same province recorded more than 230 cases recently.
Dr Padingani urged people to be vigilant and continue to strictly adhere to the preventive measures.
“We have just been preaching the gospel of adhering to Covid-19 prevention regulations. People should continue to correctly wear masks, practice social distancing, wash hands and sanitise. It is important for schools to adhere to what has been taught in terms of preventive measures and so far we are happy to say schools have been abiding and we are still at zero cases this term,” he said.
Following the mass vaccination rollout in Victoria Falls, some foreigners reportedly showed interest to travel to Zimbabwe just for a dose.
Health authorities have however said there has not been an allocation of vaccines for foreigners.
“We are not vaccinating tourists yet as we have not received doses for them. We just started the second doses and we will see the proper trend by end of the week,” said Hwange District Medical Officer Dr Fungai Musinami-Mvura.
About 1 514 people had received the second dose by Wednesday and 19 243 people were vaccinated during the first round.
A total of 295 631 have received the first dose in the country while 37 365 had received their second dose as of Wednesday.
The country had by Wednesday recorded 37 980 cases including 35 065 recoveries and 1 555 deaths since the outbreak was detected last year in March.
Government has mobilised enough resources to roll out mass vaccination programme in the country’s border towns where most residents are at high risk as they are largely dependent on economic activities related to cross-border trade and tourism.
It is targeting border towns especially Victoria Falls, Plumtree and Beitbridge as it forges ahead towards achieving 60 percent herd immunity. — @ncubeleon
Online Reporter