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Michael Magoronga Midlands Correspondent

Kwekwe City Council has activated its health task force as it moves to avert any cases of typhoid in the mining town.

The move comes after reports of the death of three people in the neighbouring Gweru after drinking contaminated water.

Several others reportedly fell sick and the city has already declared an outbreak and taken measures to contain the situation.

Kwekwe acting health director Mr John Bandama said Kwekwe was on high alert although there were no cases that have been reported yet.

“Most of the people in Kwekwe do business in Gweru as it is the provincial capital and some also come this side for business. So you never know what might befall them so we decided to activate our health task force for that reason,” said Mr Bandama.

He however assured Kwekwe residents that the tap water in the city was safe to drink after council conducted tests.

“Gweru was affected by borehole water, which most of their suburbs rely on. We have safe water but we also have Redcliff that relies on borehole water so we are on the lookout in case something happens,” he said.

Redcliff use Kwekwe District Hospital as their referral hospital.

“We should also bear in mind that Redcliff is under Kwekwe administratively and they use Kwekwe Hospital so we ought to prepare for any cases,” he said.

The local authority has partnered government departments and Kwekwe District Hospital.

“We have partnered Kwekwe District Hospital and other Government health departments, and we have set up a taskforce that is keeping its ears on the ground in case of any outbreak.”

Two clinics, said Mr Bandama, had been set aside to contain any outbreak.

“We have set aside Mbizo 1 and 11.They are going to be set aside again in case of typhoid reports. They are well equipped and ready to accommodate those who will have been diagnosed,” he said.