THE Avenues Clinic has rebuffed social media claims that a male Coronavirus (Covid-19) patient from Zimre Park died while admitted at their facility.
By Kuda Pembere
In the early hours of Thursday morning, social media was awash with information suggesting that indeed a patient had died at the Avenues, after social media users had posted on their Facebook and Twitter accounts that Avenues Clinic was handling a COVID-19 case.
In a statement, The Avenues clinic said this was fake news.
The Avenues Clinic has noted with great concern fake news circulating on social media regarding a supposed COVID-19 positive patient who is said to have passed on at the Hospital. The Hospital would like to categorically put it on record that there was never a COVID-19 suspected case on the day in question.
“The Hospital is strictly following guidelines and protocols issued by the Ministry of Health and Child Care for handling such cases. We would urge people to be mindful of their sources of information during these difficult times,” said the institution.
According to the Health and Child Care Ministry guidelines, Wilkins Hospital was designated to handle COVID-19 cases in Harare. Thorngrove Hospital is to handle cases in Bulawayo while Victoria Falls Hospital looks after its citizens in the resort town. Some provincial Hospitals will handle citizens in their respective provinces.
Meanwhile, Parirenyatwa also had to douse some flames after images purpoted to be of the institution surfaced on Facebook of the facility supposedly handling confirmed COVID-19 patients.
“Please be informed that Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals is only screening patients for COVID-19. The Hospital has not been designated to a national screening centre for members of the public as is emerging from some quarters,” denied Parirenyatwa Hospital. “We also wish to inform the public that the isolation tents which are set up close to screening tents are not admission wards for COVID-19 patients as alleged by social media articles.”
Parirenyatwa Hospital further explained the isolation tents are only meant to accomodate isolated cases, “while waiting for an ambulance to pick them up and ferry them to Wilkins Hospital which was specifically designated to handle infectious diseases like COVID-19.”
Added Parirenyatwa Hospital, “Please note that those placed in the isolation tents remain suspected cases and not confirmed cases.
“The current role of Parirenyatwa is to screen, detect suspected cases and facilitate movement to Wilkins Hospital for clinical management.”
Zimbabwe as of March 25 according to the Health Ministry had three COVID-19 confirmed cases with one succumbing to the disease.
