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Chronicle Reporter

THE Ministry of Health and Child Care is monitoring people coming into the country from China to guard against the Novel CoronaVirus outbreak in the Asian country.

Ministry of Health and Child Care Director for Epidemiology Dr Portia Manangazira told Chronicle last night that this was part of the national response strategies.

The virus has so far killed 26 people and there are more than 800 confirmed cases of patients infected with the virus in China.

“Zimbabwe and China are very close. There are Zimbabwean students studying in China, there people who travel to do business there and there are Chinese who come here. 

“We are monitoring those coming from China. We do not quarantine people. We record their addresses and make follow-ups,” she said.

On December 31, last year, China reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei Province. 

At the time the cause of the cases of pneumonia were unknown, but on January 7 this year Chinese authorities confirmed that they had identified a new virus, coronavirus as the cause of the cases of pneumonia. 

As of Thursday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had received reports of cases from new areas in China, Korea, Thailand, Japan and the United States of America.

A statement by the Ministry of Health and child care yesterday said WHO recommends that all countries, including Zimbabwe, should undertake actions as included in the International Health recommendations.

These include the availability of trained staff and appropriate space and stockpile of  adequate equipment at points of entry for assessing and managing ill patients detected before travel and on arrival and strengthening capacity for active surveillance, laboratory diagnosis, contact tracing, case management, infection prevention and control as well as risk communication.

“WHO recognises that the Government of Zimbabwe, through the Ministry of Health and Child Care is already implementing the above recommendations. WHO and other health partners will support the ongoing efforts,” the statement said.