The government has announced plans to collect travel documents from returnees as a measure to control the number of people absconding from quarantine centers.
According to the new plan, identification/travel documents will be taken from returnees on arrival and returned to them at the end of the quarantine period.
Chief Co-ordinator of the National Response to Covid-19 Dr Agnes Mahomva yesterday said the move was meant to secure quarantine centres.
To date 48 people have escaped from quarantine centres with Midlands topping the list with 18, Matabeleland North 16, Bulawayo six, Mashonaland West four and Matabeleland South one.
Dr Mahomva said she was working with the Ministries of Health and Child Care, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, and of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, to ensure maximum security at quarantine centres.
“When people are going into quarantine, they are following the laws of the land. When people escape from the quarantine centres, the Home Affairs ministry makes a follow-up and the people will be apprehended,” she said.
Noting that not everyone who is COVID-19 positive has a conducive self-isolation home, Cabinet resolved that some asymptomatic COVID-19 cases will be placed in isolation centers that are not hospitals.
“A lot is happening at quarantine centres. Every effort is being made to follow up on those who escape. If they are found guilty, they will be penalised accordingly. We are also ensuring that the quarantine regulations are well integrated and improved to ensure the facilities are secure.”
Majority of Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 confirmed patients have come from South Africa, Botswana and the United Kingdom, which have much higher rates of infection than Zimbabwe.
The quarantining process is designed to ensure they do not mix with others until it is shown they are safe.
To date, the country recorded 314 COVID-19 cases, 46 recoveries and four deaths.
