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Covid-19 continues to claim more lives

THE Covid-19 virus continues to claim more lives and set new records of infections, following the death of former Muzvezve MP and Zanu PF central committee member Peter Haritatos and University of Zimbabwe lecturer Sheunesu Mupepereki.

Haritatos and Mupepereki died on Saturday from coronavirus complications.

On Saturday alone, 1 787 new infections and 42 deaths were recorded, bringing the cumulative figure to 66 853 cases and 2 126 deaths.

“As of July 9, 2021, at 15:00hrs, there were 672 hospitalised cases,” the Health ministry said on Saturday.

Zimbabwe has embarked on a vaccination drive, with at least 886 619 having received their first jab, while 590 501 their second on Saturday, as the country aims to inoculate 10 million people to reach herd immunity by December this year.

The inoculation programme, which had stalled in recent weeks due to shortage of doses, received a major boost when two million vaccines arrived from China last Thursday. 

The country is set to receive a further 1,5 million doses this Thursday and another two million doses by the end of the month. 

Last week, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube urged citizens to get vaccinated to enable the economy to fully open.

“The vaccination programme is not just about saving lives, it is also about saving the economy because when citizens have been vaccinated, then it will be easier for the government to open up all aspects of the economy,” Ncube said.

The country’s chief Covid-19 response coordinator in the office of the president and cabinet, Agnes Mahomva, recently told our sister paper, the Daily News on Sunday, that the government was committed towards reaching herd immunity by December.

“We continue to be guided by this ambitious target. It is important that we do so for the health of the country. 

“We need that herd immunity especially in view of the complacency we continue to observe in our communities,” she said.