Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, Bulawayo, has no coronavirus isolation and testing centre, several weeks after the country confirmed its first COVID-19 positive case.
The revelations were made by the Minister of Local Government and Public Works, July Moyo at a press conference on Saturday night.
Moyo was addressing reporters after a meeting between a delegation from the Inter-Ministerial Taskforce on COVID-19 and members of the Beautiful Bulawayo Trust. Said Moyo:
In terms of testing, there is equipment at the National University of Science and Technology and at Mpilo Hospital. We are in the process of combining these so we can do the testing here locally.
I understand in Bulawayo we currently have the rapid testing equipment but it is not complete, so they have not started testing, therefore testing is at the moment only being done in Harare where samples from all corners of the country are sent.
Meanwhile, the government has designated Thorngrove Infectious Disease Hospital as the centre to cater for COVID-19 cases in the city but the hospital is still undergoing renovations.
Early last week, Bulawayo City Council spokesperson, Nesisa Mpofu told Sunday News that the local authority required US$300 000 for the complete refurbishment of Thorngrove hospital to be able to house COVID-19 cases.