Zimbabwe has recorded 1,820 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 26 deaths as of July 22. The country has seen a recent rise in local transmissions and president Emmerson Mnangagwa announced on Tuesday [July 21] that certain health and safety measures will be tightened.
Harare, Zimbabwe.
Businesses may only operate between 8am and 3pm and the president has instated a night time curfew. All intercity public transport is banned, as well as public gatherings.
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‘Covid-19 is… no longer a problem out there, far and beyond our borders. Rather, it is now here, among us, and in our communities,’ Mnagagwa said, according to News24.
Over the past four months, more than 100,000 people have been arrested for breaking lockdown rules. Authorities are worried about high alcohol consumption levels in high-density suburbs and say it shows that ‘people were not taking social distancing seriously,’ police spokesperson Paul Nyati told EWN.
Local tourism in the country has been reopening in phases since earlier this month, but will have to halt again in line with the renewed restrictions.
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