BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
A surge in infections in rural areas is driving the third
wave of the Covid-19 outbreak in Matabeleland North Province, a senior Health
and Child Care ministry official has revealed.
On Monday, the province recorded 112 new Covid-19 cases in
24 hours, a huge jump from the 15 recorded the previous day.
Munekayi Padingani, Matabeleland North provincial medical
director, told VicFallsLive that Hwange district had the highest rate of infections
in the province.
Binga and Nkayi districts have also recorded a high number
of cases.
“(On Monday) we received some positive cases from the
rural clinics in Hwange, Binga and Nkayi,” Padingani said.
“We also recorded some from Tsholotsho clinics and that’s a
cause for concern.”
Testing for Covid-19 in rural Matabeleland North started
about three weeks ago and some patients have been found positive on admission
at hospitals, he said.
“So we need to keep talking to people so that they
change their behaviour because some are not complying with regulations like
social distancing and wearing of masks in public areas,” Padingani added.
Matabeleland North has a serious shortage of health
facilities and most rural areas have inaccessible roads, which might complicate
the Covid-19 response. – VicFallsLive