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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter 

EIGHTY-SIX people were reported to have succumbed to Covid-19 complications on Thursday and 20 of them are community deaths from Harare that had not been reported on previous days.

The capital city recorded 27 deaths on Thursday and the Ministry of Health and Child Care said 20 cases were of people who died between July 9 and July 13 at community level and their deaths had not been captured.

On Thursday the country also recorded 2 491 new infections and Harare had the highest number of cases.

In the daily Covid-19 report, Health and Child Care Ministry said since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country last year, 78 872 cases have been recorded including  49 774 recoveries, 2418 deaths and 26 680 active cases.

Harare had the highest deaths at 27, Mashonaland East, 15, Bulawayo, 14, Manicaland, 11, Mashonaland Central, seven, Mashonaland West five,  Midlands, four, while Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Masvingo recorded zero fatalities.

Government said on Wednesday at 3PM, 705 Covid-19 patients were admitted at various hospitals across the country and 29 of them were hospitalised in the Intensive Care Unit.

The Ministry of Health and Child Care said 47 506 people received their first Covid-19 vaccination jab on Thursday and the number of citizens to have received the first inoculation dose climbed to over one million.

The report shows that more than 5000 received their second vaccination dose on the same day increasing the number of people to have gotten the second jab to more than 630 000.

Government is targeting to inoculate 60 percent of the population to achieve herd immunity and has scrapped the need to produce an identity card for those without the document.

Citizens without identity cards are expected to produce a confirmation letter from their community leaders proving that they are resident in those areas.

Human rights experts and health activists have said this move will enable ore citizens to get vaccinated.

President Mnangagwa on Tuesday enhanced level four lockdown regulations to arrest rising Covid-19 cases and on the same day Cabinet resolved to keep schools closed to reduce infection rate.

Complacency has been blamed for the country’s rising Covid-19 cases and the public has been urged to adhere to prevention measures including properly wearing of masks, social distancing and washing or sanitization of hands.

Funeral gatherings have been blamed for some of the spiralling Covid-19 cases with experts lobbying for total ban of all gatherings.

@nqotshili

C