Zimbabwe’s handling of the coronavirus crisis leaves a lot to be desired, with a health expert bemoaning an increase in the number of people who test positive for the virus after a post-mortem has been conducted.
The secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR), Norman Matara, said there is a need to conduct a robust contact tracing process as well as confining COVID-19 patients to identified isolation centres. Said Matara:
It is also worrying to note that some of the cases are being discovered only after a post-mortem has been carried out.
It means that our testing system is lagging behind and our surveillance system is a bit weak.
We need to strengthen our surveillance systems by increasing the number of people being tested in the community, as well as to conduct a robust contact tracing process.
Those who test positive need to be isolated in identified isolation centres.
The testing process takes with as much as 1-week intervals between the collection of samples and releasing of results.
Currently, people who test positive for coronavirus are required to self-isolate at home.