The number of people who succumbed to the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe has risen sharply since the country began recording triple digit numbers with 70 already confirmed dead as of Sunday 2 August 2020.
In its daily update yesterday, the Ministry of Health and Child Care confirmed that one more death bringing the total to 70.
“Today we regret to report 1 death of at facility level in Midlands. The death is of a female aged 93 who was admitted into the hospital on 23 July 2020 and passed on early this morning,” read the update.
The number of confirmed cases has also gone up to 3 921 while recoveries stand at 1 016.
Meanwhile, the government has warned private and public hospitals not to turn patients away or demand a Covid-19 certificate first before admitting patients, particularly in emergency cases
Addressing the media during the weekend, Acting Health and Child Care Minister Professor Amon Murwira said the government is engaging hospitals to ensure that they provide other life-saving services to avoid unnecessary loss of life.
“What we want to do is to ensure that we revamp our health system, invest in it and ensure that every citizen has access to health services as enshrined in our Constitution,”
“This disease (Covid-19) does not spare anyone, but we have to ensure there is continuity in terms of service provision otherwise we may regress and lose lives unnecessarily. Hospitals should continue offering services and desist from making unreasonable demands at the expense of lives. We all have to be responsible at some point,” said Prof Murwira.
Scores of people are failing to access health care as health institutions, including both private and public health institutions, are insisting on Covid-19 certificates before admitting patients, even in emergency cases.
The certificate can only be issued after a polymerase chain reaction (PCR test), which is going between US$65 to US$80 at various private institutions, although the test is free at some public hospitals.
