Zimbabwe Records More Than 170 000 Malaria Cases And Over 150 Deaths In 2020
4 years agoMon, 20 Apr 2020 18:36:23 GMT
The Ministry of Health and Child Care has reported that Zimbabwe this year alone recorded over 170 000 cases of malaria including more than 150 deaths.
The Ministry posted on social media on Monday and said:
This year the cumulative malaria cases in the country stand at 170,303 and the deaths are 152 compared to 117,715 and 127 in 2019 over the same period, signifying increases of 44.7% and 20.4% in cases and deaths respectively between the two years.
This sharp increase coincides with the peak period of malaria transmission. And is compounded by the current COVID-19 situation in the country. The two diseases do have similar symptoms particularly fever as the main feature.
This is happening when the country is also grappling with the deadly coronavirus which has already killed three people in the country.
There are also reports suggesting that some health institutions are rejecting malaria patients who are seriously ill as the symptoms they exhibit are similar to those of the contagious coronavirus.
Some also believe that more can be done to address malaria considering that the number of people the disease has claimed is higher than of even the most dreaded coronavirus.
