Pretoria – The government of Zimbabwe has postponed this year’s independence day commemorations and the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) as part of cautionary measures to avoid Covid-19.
State-owned The Herald newspaper reported that the country has now declared the virus a state of national disaster and banned public gatherings of more than 100 people, for the next 60 days. Banned gatherings include church services, weddings, and all international sporting fixtures.
According to the World Health Organisation, as of March 17 there were 179 112 confirmed cases globally and 7 426 deaths.
The Western Pacific Region has 91 779 cases with 3 357 deaths, while Europe has 64 189 cases with 3 108 deaths. South-East Asia has 508 cases and nine deaths and the Eastern Mediterranean region has 16,786 cases with 873 deaths.
The Americas have 4,910 confirmed cases with 68 deaths, while Africa has 228 cases with four deaths.
The Herald reported that while there were no confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection in Zimbabwe, declaring the pandemic a state of national disaster allowed the Harare government to raise and use more resources.
Zimbabwe is on high alert, with screening and testing at the country’s ports of entry.
According to The Herald, the school term in Zimbabwe, which has only two more weeks to run, will not be affected by the ban unless there are extraordinary situations.