Precious Nyakudya |  1 year ago | top

Government has expressed concern over a recent increase in Covid-19 deaths, adding that authorities are working to minimize the spread of the virus as the country grapples with the fourth wave of the pandemic triggered by the Omicron variant.

National Covid-19 Taskforce Chief Coordinator Dr Agnes Mahomva said the fourth Covid-19 wave has so far proven to be deadlier compared to the Beta variant which fueled the second wave that was prevalent during the festive season in December 2020.

A 14-day analysis of the period starting from December 20, 2021 to January 2 this year showed that 245 Covid-19 deaths were recorded compared to 73 recorded during the same period when the second wave hit.

This time around more cases are being recorded.

The daily average of recorded cases is at 1 580 to give a total of 22 121 recorded cases in two weeks so far compared to a 167 daily average that resulted in 2 346 cases over the same period during the previous festive season.

Despite views that Omicron results in less severe cases compared to Delta which gave rise to the third wave in June last year and other variants that have been circulating since the first Covid-19 was detected in March 2020, the number of Covid-19 deaths have been rising in Zimbabwe. 

Meanwhile, Dr Mahomva urged members of the public to continue being vigilant as there are chances Covid-19 deaths may rise if complacency is allowed to get a foothold in communities. 

She said vaccination was still relevant and the best protection that residents can consider to save themselves from succumbing to the deadly virus with health experts adding that almost 90 percent of Covid-19 fatalities are of people who were not vaccinated against the pandemic.

To date, 5 032 deaths have been recorded in the country.

The highest number of deaths recorded in a single day was on June 16 last year with 102 fatalities.