The Government says teachers and pupils should not panic over rising coronavirus infections in schools.
On Tuesday, 10 May, the Health and Child Care Ministry said it recorded 106 new COVID-19 cases, with 9 of the cases detected in schools in Matabeleland South (8) and Bulawayo (1) provinces.
Primary and Secondary Education Ministry spokesperson, Taungana Ndoro, said teachers and pupils should not panic as the situation is under control. Said Ndoro:
Our schools are the best barometer for detecting COVID-19.
We have scientific surveillance that detects COVID-19 early, and we are able to capture it at an early stage.
Learners and teachers are all sanitised before going to class.
Meanwhile, medical experts have warned that the rise in coronavirus cases points to the advent of a fifth wave.
Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association president, Johannes Marisa, said:
There is a general increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, and it is not surprising.
We are expecting the fifth wave to strike us at any time.
If you look at the trend, you will realise that South Africa is really under the fifth wave.
We share the same border with South Africa, and whatever happens, there might also affect us.
We have a lot of Zimbabweans in South Africa who criss-cross between Zimbabwe and South Africa ofte.
So if South Africa starts recording a number of high cases, it won’t take us three weeks to be affected again.
We may need to get a bit worried and be very vigilant so that we do not drop our guard as we may face a fifth wave although probably less serious than what we experienced during the beginning.