Harare Cholera Death Toll rises

The cholera death toll has surged to 25 with four people said to have succumbed to the highly infectious disease on Thursday alone. Harare mayor Herbert Gomba and acting town clerk, Hosiah Chisango said the government had availed

Addressing the media on Thursday, Health and Child Care Minister Obadiah Moyo also announced an increase in the number of cholera cases with confirmed cases have now reached 3 766.

“We are working 24/7 and our teams are working so hard to contain the situation.

We have government coming in in a big way and we really appreciate the gesture we have received so far,” Gomba said.

“We are working so hard to ensure we stop further spread of the disease and also curb deaths by all account.

We are grateful to the government, our parent ministry, the Ministry of Health as well as other agencies that have come in.”

Besides government, the presidential fund also donated $100 000 towards the fight against cholera and telecommunications operator Econet Wireless also came in with $10 million.

The newly appointed cabinet minister urged locals to stop the blame game and concentrate on ending a devastating catastrophe that is threatening to spread to other parts of the country.

“We are not blaming each other. This is not a blame game. Let’s work together and be on top of the situation,” he said.

Moyo said this as both Zanu PF and the opposition trade accusations on who has caused the epidemic.

The outbreak has been blamed on poor sanitation, the proliferation on food vending as well as continued lack of clean running which has forced residents, in some cases, to resort to unsafe wells to acquire the necessity.

The country’s health chief also said his ministry was taking control of the situation through a raft of measures, among them, the administering of intravenous therapy on patients adding that stocks needed replenishment.

The Zimbabwe government has declared the outbreak a state of emergency and further banned all forms of public gatherings in attempts to control the further spread of the disease.