Zimbabwe battles cholera outbreak that has claimed 19 lives

HARARE — Cabinet has announced that Zimbabwe is experiencing a severe cholera outbreak that has infected over 3,000 people and resulted in 19 confirmed deaths.

Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa said on Thursday that the government will take a multi-sectoral approach  to tackle the water and sanitation issues that are driving the outbreak.

She said that as of 24 June 2023, there were 3,017 suspected cholera cases in the country, with 2,910 recoveries and 52 suspected deaths. The case fatality rate for all deaths, confirmed and suspected, was 2.4%.

Mutsvangwa said that all provinces had reported suspected cholera cases, with Manicaland having the most at 1,251, followed by Harare with 1,121 and Matabeleland South Province with 277.

Cholera confirmed deaths had been recorded in Manicaland (12), Harare (3), Mashonaland Central (2), and Mashonaland West and Masvingo with one case each.

The African Region had seen a cumulative 154,317 suspected cholera cases and 2,747 deaths from the disease.

Meanwhile, government said it had launched a blitz maintenance of access roads to polling stations throughout the country in order to allow every eligible voter to access the nearest polling station and exercise their right as enshrined in the Constitution.

“A total of 4 000 kilometres out of a targeted 6 145 kilometres have been attended to through grading, gravelling and pothole patching in all the eight rural provinces, while 290 kilometres out of a target of 1 086 kilometres were verge-cleared,” Mutsvangwa said.

“A total of 18 kilometres out of a targeted  216 kilometres of drainage structures on bridges, pipe drifts and culverts were attended to and the works are still on-going,” she added.