THE Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) says the decision to put Kwekwe under lockdown was informed by epidemiological evidence and will go a long way in reducing the spread of the highly infectious and  virulent B.1.617.2 COVID-19 variant to other parts of the country.

By Michael Gwarisa

The new variant is highly dominant in India where it has caused not less than 298,000 deaths and  26, 506, 167 infections since it was first reported in the Asian country.  In Zimbabwe however, the new variant was reported a week ago in Kwekwe, forcing government to activate a two week long localized lockdown.

In an interview with HealthTimes, National Public Relations and Protocol Manager in the Ministry of Health, Mr Donald Mujiri said the move to lockdown Kwekwe was timely.

You find that Zimbabwe first recorded the case of the imported strain last week and we were waiting for results from the Genomic sequencing to make a decision. The results came positive and proved that indeed it was the B.167.2 strain that is dominant in India.

“As we speak all World Health Organisation (WHO) COVID-19 regulations have been put in place to ensure the virus and the new variant does not spread uncontrollably. We believe this was an early and timely move considering how infectious and virulent this strain is,” said Mr Mujiri.

He added that all Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) have been activated in Kwekwe to scale up surveillance and tracing of the disease and all the country’s 10 provinces were now on high alert.

“Now that we have a lockdown in Kwekwe, we are also monitoring the situation countrywide and every decision will be made by government in consultation with local experts and the COVID-19 national response team. As you are aware, following relaxation of restrictions and the receding of cases, Rapid Response Teams had been partially active but now that we have the new variant, its all hands on deck.”

Zimbabwe has of late been applauded for being an early mover with regards to implementation of COVID-19 prevention measures including lockdowns which according to experts, might have spared the nation from the full wrath of the COVID-19 during the first and second wave of the COVID-19.

Speaking during a virtual meeting recently, Dr Takunda Sola a local medical Public health expert said ,” what you need to note is that Zimbabwe was an early mover in terms of adopting some of the scientifically proven methods limiting the spread of COVID-19. You find that people were complaining at the initial lockdown because life was so hard.

“But when you look back in retrospect, that was one thing that helped stem the first wave. The measures that were adopted have had an impact in terms of the socio-economic impact but they have also helped immensely when it comes to preventing the spread of COVID-19.”