Zimbabwean doctors has expressed concern over the government’s decision to reduce the number of days returning residents are spending in mandatory quarantine from 14 to eight, which they say is contrary to scientific evidence.
BY STAFF REPORTER
The government had been putting hundreds of residents returning from the United Kingdom, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zambia, among other countries, in mandatory quarantine for two weeks to slow down the spread of coronavirus since the country went into a lockdown on March 30.
Obadiah Moyo, the Health and Child Care minister, however, announced last week that the quarantine period had since been reduced to eight days as the government did not have enough resources.
The Senior Hospital Doctors Association (SHDA) said although it welcomed the mandatory testing and quarantining of all returnees coming from coronavirus hotspots, it was worried about Zimbabwe’s deviation from World Health Organisation standards.
“We are concerned with the reduction of the quarantine period to an effective eight days, which is contrary to the scientific evidence and is outside the World Health Organisation recommendations,” the SHDA said in a letter to Vice President Kembo Mohadi, who chairs the Covid-19 Taskforce dated April 29.
“The quarantine period is clearly guided by the incubation period of the virus, which has been proven scientifically to between two and 14 days,” the SHDA added.
The doctor said regionally the mandatory quarantine for travellers from Covid-19 hotspot countries ranges between 14 to 21 days.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
South Africa, which has the highest coronavirus cases in Africa, has a 21 day mandatory quarantine period.
A number of Zimbabweans returning from the United Kingdom have tested positive for the flu-like disease that was first detected in China late last year and has since spread to almost every country in the world.
The government has said it expects hundreds of Zimbabweans to return from neighbours such as South Africa and Botswana in coming days as they struggle to survive under lockdowns in their host countries.
As of Thursday Zimbabwe had recorded 40 coronavirus with four deaths and five recoveries.
