COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe
The COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ().The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Zimbabwe in March 2020. Some of Zimbabwe's provinces, especially Manicaland, Masvingo and Mashonaland East, also struggled with a malaria outbreak at the same time. Though malaria is treatable, the healthcare system faces drug shortages and increased strain with the spread of COVID-19. Background On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019. The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll. Model-based simulations for Zimbabwe indicate that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number R t has been stable below 1.0 since June 2021. Timeline March 2020 On 20 March, Zimbabwe reported its first COVID-19 case: a male resident of Victoria Falls who travelled back from the UK via South Africa on 15 March. No