The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Zimbabwe has sped past the 2500 mark with the number of those who have been confirmed to have died from the disease still standing at 34. According to the Ministry of Health update, the country recorded an astounding 78 cases with 74 being local cases. As you would expect most coronavirus cases have been recorded in towns and cities although escapees from quarantines have also worked tirelessly to bring Covid-19 even to the most remote villages.

Authorities obsess over entry into the CBD

While in the early days of March the police would regularly patrol suburbs making sure that quarantine rules were being followed that has not been the case ever since restrictions were relaxed in March. People hold house parties, birthday parties and church services in defiance of the lockdown provisions. It is extremely rare to find people wearing masks in their neighbourhood roads in the high density suburbs at least.

The Ministry of Health has conceded multiple times that there are mysterious sources of infection they could not identify. This line is not included in the latest publication so it’s not clear whether they have identified these sources or not. However, the way people are acting in residential areas requires the authorities to rethink their current enforcement strategy which is too focused on the CBD.