“Don’t Panic, We Are Prepared” – VP Chiwenga Speaks On New Covid-19 Variant
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has called on Zimbabweans not to panic over the discovery of a new variant of Covid-19 in South Africa and Botswana. Speaking in his capacity as the Minister of Health and Child Care, Vice President Chiwenga said Zimbabwe is very prepared for the B.1.1.529 ‘Omicron’ — Covid-19 variant.
The Minister of Health and Child Care urged the nation to remain calm and told a Health Professions Authority congress nn Friday morning that Zimbabwe must contain the new variant.
Said the Vice President,
“With regards to the recent new Covid-19 variants being reported in the media, the country should not panic because we are very prepared.”
“The ramping up of our vaccination programme in the past month has seen a marked increase in the vaccination uptake.
“We remain focused on this very critical initiative that is designed to protect the nation from the negative impact of any new variants.
“Meanwhile, our scientists are already doing genomic sequencing for identification of any new variants hence help support timely strengthening of our response.”
The B.1.1.529 variant, named ‘Omicron’ by the World Health Organization (WHO), has been described as having an “extremely high” number of mutations, according to South African scientists who first detected the Beta variant.
The strain has been detected in a number of coronavirus cases in South Africa and is now believed to be in Europe.
The WHO subsequently classified the new Omicron strain as a “variant of concern” on Friday.
Zimbabwe Omicron variant is yet to be detected in Zimbabwe.-iharare
