Zimbabwe health officials are conducting mass COVID-19 testing at a village about 100 km southwest of the capital, Harare.
The tests are being conducted following the death of an elderly woman from the coronavirus and infection of two others in the area in recent days.
The woman died at a Harare private hospital last Wednesday.
Health and Child Care Minister Obadiah Moyo said on Monday that testing was being done in Chitemere Village, Mhondoro-Mubaira, and the surrounding villages after two people who had been in contact with the elderly deceased woman tested positive.
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One of the infected people did not live in the same house with the woman, prompting health officials to suspect that there is local transmission within the Chitemere community.
“Our teams from Harare and Mashonaland West Province have since started combing the whole area, tracing and testing all individuals as we try to get to the bottom of this issue,’’ Moyo said.
As of April 26, there were 31 confirmed cases of COVID-19, five recoveries, and four deaths in Zimbabwe.
The sources of some of the cases, including the Mhondoro woman, have not been identified, prompting many to worry about the level of prevalence of the virus within communities.
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