Zimbabwe has recorded its first coronavirus death. One of the two confirmed cases in the country, Zororo Makamba, has died in hospital.
He had returned from the United States (US) earlier this month via Johannesburg. The Health Ministry confirmed the death via its official Twitter page.
Last week, Zimbabwe declared a national state of disaster.
The news of Zororo Makamaba’s reached social media before the Health Ministry’s announcement.
The media star had apparently travelled to New York for surgery before returning to Harare.
As more and more countries in the Southern African Development Community SADC region reporting more cases of the virus – Makamba’s death is the first in the region.
There has concern about Zimbabwe’s ability to handle the outbreak given its collapsed Health system amidst the dire socio-economic challenges the country has been facing for the last two decades.
In this video, Zimbabwe sets measures in place against coronavirus
Meanwhile, Nigeria has confirmed its first fatality. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control says 67-year-old, Suleiman Achimugu, died in the capital Abuja after returning from a medical procedure in the United Kingdom.
Nigeria on Sunday confirmed four new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 30.
Meanwhile, doctors – who had gone on strike indefinitely in Nigeria after not being paid for months – have called it off to assist with the number of coronavirus cases in the country. There are more than 310 000 COVID-19 cases across the globe, with some 13 000 deaths.
