The Government has announced a two-week localised lockdown for Hurungwe and Kariba districts to contain the spread of Covid-19 following a spike in infections in the past three days.

The Government decided to control the geographical spread of the virus by restricting movements in the two districts to avoid a spike in infections and give local health facilities a strong chance of containing the virus.

The localised lockdown was announced last night, by chief Director Curative Services in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Maxwell Hove.

“The Ministry of Health and Child Care has noted an increase in Covid-19 cases in Mashonaland West province and the hotspots are Hurungwe and Kariba districts.

“More than 40 cases were recorded in the last three days. The Ministry has therefore declared a lockdown in the hotspots of Kariba and Hurungwe districts. The lockdown will be reviewed after two weeks,” announced Dr Hove.

“Those living outside Hurungwe and Kariba are prohibited from visiting the two districts. The public is advised that health education, contact tracing, and isolating positive cases is being done.

“We urge the public to cooperate with health workers and to continue adhering to the World Health Organisation containment measures like sanitizing, social distancing and the correct wearing of face masks.

Dr Hove urged those who had not yet been vaccinated to get their jabs at the nearest health centres.

Government recently announced a localised lockdown for Kwekwe after detecting the Indian variant of the virus.