HARARE — Amid mounting fears for coronavirus which has killed thousands of people in China and other countries, the Zimbabwean government has with immediate effect banned overseas travel.
According to an announcement made by the Southern African nation’s President Emerson Mnangagwa, citizens here will now not be allowed to travel to countries outside the African continent.
Mr. Mnangagwa made the announcement Wednesday evening while addressing his governing party, Zimbabwe Africa National Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) politburo meeting in the capital, Harare.
He (Mnangagwa) said ‘I have now restricted travel outside Zimbabwe, in particular outside the continent.’
The President also appealed to ordinary citizens to limit travel outside the country in order to lessen exposure to the dreaded virus.
At the moment, Zimbabwe has dealt with only two suspected coronavirus cases after travelers came into the country from countries where there are confirmed cases of the disease.
But, the two suspected coronavirus cases have since tested negative, however with the suspects kept under strict medical surveillance.
Last year in December, coronavirus broke out in Wuhan City in the Hubei Province of China.
Then, the World Health Organisation was informed of pneumonia cases related to unknown causes detected in the Chinese city, which later became known as coronavirus, scientifically called COVID-19.
After the overseas travel ban announcement by President Emerson Mnangagwa, government spokesman, Nick Mangwana tweeted ‘President Mnangagwa has restricted international travel especially outside Africa, while civil servants have been banned from foreign trips as Government takes measures to minimize the risk of exposure to coronavirus.’
Apart from banning overseas travel, the Zimbabwean government recently announced that people visiting the country from areas affected by coronavirus without valid medical certificates showing they are negative will be repatriated at the port of entry.
Over 3,000 people have died due to the coronavirus following the first outbreak recorded in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
In Zimbabwe, more than 6,000 travelers have been screened of the disease at ports of entry like Robert Gabriel Mugabe and Victoria Falls International Airports.
But, reacting to the overseas travel ban news, an ordinary Zimbabwean, Tendaivanhu Madzikanda tweeted ‘you don’t want civil servants to travel yet you allow people from risk countries to come into the country. Really.’