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Nyemudzai Kakore Herald Correspondent—
Over 30 cases of typhoid were confirmed in Harare’s oldest suburb of Mbare as of yesterday, while three patients were still admitted at Beatrice Road Infectious Hospital after the setting up of a 24-hour clinic to manage a typhoid outbreak, Health Services director Dr Prosper Chonzi said. Addressing a press conference in the capital while giving an update on the typhoid outbreak, Dr Chonzi said the city was winning the war on typhoid as they were no confirmed deaths from the outbreak.

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He said their response teams have been in the area since last week to monitor the situation and as of yesterday, suspected typhoid cases were 301 while the numbers of people coming through treatment camps at Matapi Hostels was decreasing.

“As I speak, we have only three patients admitted at Beatrice Road Infectious Hospital where we admit our sick patients. We hope by end of day today (yesterday), we will reduce them to none. This means that people are heeding our calls on safe hygienic practices,” he said.

“Instead of the initial 160 patients that were coming for screening on a daily basis, the numbers have reduced to 50-60 per day. To date, suspected typhoid cases are 301. The ones that are confirmed to be having typhoid are over 30. We have not had any confirmed death from typhoid. In an outbreak situation, we carry out investigations and analysis to verify the cause of deaths.”

Dr Chonzi urged communities to practice good personal hygiene like washing hands after visiting ablution facilities, buying food from licensed premises as well as using aqua tablets and Water Guard. He said people should treat water regardless of the source and remove the notion that borehole water is safe by installing online chlorinators for the boreholes.

The new outbreak happens two months after Government declared Harare typhoid free. Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa announced in August that the last confirmed case of typhoid in Harare was on June 30, 2017.

Meanwhile, city spokesperson Mr Michael Chideme said council is set to demolish Matapi Flats in Mbare which have become a breeding ground of infectious diseases which are threatening the health of people in Harare. Mr Chideme said Harare will partner with CBZ to build new flats in the area. Over 23 000 people stay in the flats which were designed for only 2 140 people.