Zimbabwe has adopted the latest World Health Organisation’s (WHO) methodology on COVID-19 patients which stipulates that patients who tests positive but are asymptomatic will be released after 10 days.
Chief coordinator of the National Response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Agnes Mahomva said asymptomatic patients could now return to their families after clearance by health officials 10 days after testing positive.
“According to the new WHO guidelines, a patient without symptoms, while testing positive for the virus could not transmit the virus,” Mahomva said.
“If you are asymptomatic but you are positive, which is a large percentage of people we are testing as returning residents, you can be discharged after 10 days without retesting as long as symptoms don’t show,” she added.
“This is fantastic because we have had patients who are not patients. They are just patients by virtue of being positive but they have been like that for a long time. The elements of the virus, the ribonucleic acid, that remains in them is low. It is not viable to be transmitted to others,” said Mahomva.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Child Care yesterday announced 18 new coronavirus cases, 16 of which are returnees from South Africa, and one death.
New recoveries were reported in Harare (12), Masvingo (2) and Midlands (2).
To date, the total number of confirmed cases in Zimbabwe is now 734; 197 recoveries, and 9 deaths.
