Breaking : Confirmed cholera in Bulawayo rise to 5

September 16, 2018
| Report Focus News
Patients await treatment at a makeshift cholera clinic in Harare, Zimbabwe, September 11, 2018. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

TWO more patients were yesterday referred to Thorngrove Hospital for further assessment after they developed suspected cholera symptoms.

This brings to five, possible cases of cholera in the city after three people were on Friday quarantined at the infectious diseases facility after they developed symptoms of water borne disease. The two, who were referred yesterday, were initially admitted at United Bulawayo Hospitals. UBH chief executive Mrs Nonhlanhla Ndlovu last night said they have referred the patients for assessment.

Meanwhile, The Ministry of Health said Friday that the cholera death toll in Harare had risen to 28 after two people died during the day.

The developing health emergency is testing the capacity of the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa to handle a major crisis, amid rising anger around the country.

The MDC and Zanu PF continued to trade blame for the crisis. The MDC, which is the majority party in all major urban centres, blames the government for failing to settle its debts to local authorities running into hundreds of millions.

The MDC also accuses the government – which has launched an international crowdfunding appeal – of failing to prioritise expenditure by spending millions of scarce foreign currency buying vehicles for traditional chiefs and ministers while neglecting decaying urban infrastructure, believed to be the cause of the latest cholera outbreak.