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Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
Government targets to test at least 40 000 people by the end of April and has adopted a strategy to do 1 000 or more rapid Covid-19 tests daily.

Further, the criteria for those who qualify for testing has been widened to include all patients with fever in health facilities.

Government employees reporting for duty and all persons working during the lockdown interfacing with the community are going to be tested.

Those who fall under this bracket include law enforcement agents, employees of service providers such as retail business, petrol attendants and food outlets.

All health care workers in the frontline in local health facilities, infectious diseases hospitals, provincial and district hospitals and private institutions are also going to be tested.

This was revealed by Vice President Kembo Mohadi in a detailed briefing to the media at State House last night in his capacity as the chairperson of the Ad hoc Committee Inter-Ministerial Taskforce on Covid-19.

To cater for increased number of tests, five laboratories have been capacitated and one of them began tests in Bulawayo on Sunday with others expected to be operational this week.

Three private laboratories have also indicated that they have the capacity to conduct tests and are working with the Ministry of Health and Child Care to finalise logistical modalities.

VP Mohadi said all cases of pneumonia admitted in hospitals (public and private), all people above 60 years of age admitted in hospitals with chronic diseases such as asthma, hypertension, diabetes and heart diseases now qualified for Covid-19 testing.

“The taskforce received submissions from its sub-committees and based on these and other reports the following decisions have been made; ‘the adoption of a strategy to increase testing to a 1 000 samples per day,’” said VP Mohadi.

“This strategy will see the teams in the Ministry of Health and Child care conducting tests from today, 13 April, 2020 in the country’s 10 provinces. The criteria for those to be tested has been increased to include all travellers coming into the country from affected countries in designated quarantine facilities will be tested using rapid diagnostic kits on arrival and PCR on discharge.

“People with influenza like illness in hospital and communities and all contacts of confirmed cases regardless of showing symptoms of the disease. All community deaths happening in areas where there is local transmission (and) all the communities around a cluster of cases.”

VP Mohadi also revealed that out of the 4 000 medical posts unfrozen by Government in response to the Covd-19 threat, 1 400 had already been filled.

He said a cocktail of measures had been put in place to meet the resources needed including commitment to provide personal protective equipment by local institutions of higher learning.

“As such it has been agreed that disposable PPEs should be secured locally from universities and other local producers whose products meet the specifications provided by our health experts and national quality standards as set by the Standards Association of Zimbabwe.

“The translation of all information education and communication materials into the 16 official languages has been completed.”

VP Mohadi said several locations had been identified as places of safety to shelter the homeless and children living and working on the streets as a way of ensuring effective lockdown.