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Herald Reporter

FOLLOWING another five deaths from Covid-19 reported yesterday, Zimbabwe’s death toll has passed the century mark to reach 102.

The two men and two women in Harare and a three-week-old baby in Matabeleland North all died between Monday and Wednesday in the casualty department of Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals or other hospitals, the Ministry of Health and Child Care said last night, in the daily report.

The Covid-19 infections were discovered during investigations and post-mortems. All five had respiratory symptoms compatible with Covid-19.

The Health Ministry records all deaths where Covid-19 infection is confirmed as a death due to the disease unless there is a clear alternative, such a car crash, diabetes, asthma, cancer or hypertension. If a person has been infected with Covid-19, counted as recovered and then dies, the cause of death will be attributed to whatever did kill the patient later.

Just 56 new infections were confirmed yesterday, two being returning residents from South Africa and the other 54 being infected within Zimbabwe, 21 of them in Manicaland and 20 in Harare.

The total number of confirmed Zimbabwe infections is now 4 451 with 3 353 infected within Zimbabwean communities. Of these local infections Harare accounts for 1 412 with 55 deaths, Bulawayo for 1 044 and 23 deaths, Midlands for 283 and five deaths and Manicaland for 152 and seven deaths.

The number of recoveries continues to rise and is now 1 345 although some provinces, including Harare, have yet to see all recoveries enter the official statistics.

South Africa, the fifth most severely hit country in the world by number of confirmed cases, has now recorded 9 604 deaths from 538 184 confirmed cases, but with 387 316 recoveries.

The global total is now 716 083 deaths from 19 160 806 confirmed cases with 11 605 114 recoveries. However, compilers of statistics stress that while the death toll is reasonably accurate, the number of cases and recoveries is almost certainly understated as not all infections were ever confirmed.