266 in Zimbabwe being monitored for coronavirus as non-essential trips to China discouraged

The Ministry of Health and Child Care in Zimbabwe has said 266 individuals are being monitored for the novel coronavirus after entering the country from China or other places where infections have been discovered.

No infections have been confirmed in Zimbabwe.

The ministry also encouraged ‘those who planned to travel to China for non-essential purposes to defer their visit where possible until the outbreak has been declared over.

The communique says that if there should be suspected cases, the Zimbabwe government ‘has secured places of quarantine and is mobilising medicines for the treatment of the diseases in designated across the country by trained personnel’.

All provinces and city health practitioners are on high alert, the Ministry added.

As of Monday, 17,000 cases of the respiratory disease were confirmed, most of them from the Wuhan City of China. Over 300 people have died. Only 1 is from outside China with the second in Hong Kong.