By Nomusa Garikai- As of today 30 August 2020 Zimbabwe had 6 new cases of covid-19 bringing the total of confirmed cases to 6 412. There have bee zero deaths and so the total death rate remains at 196.

“Much fewer tests (602) done today (But on a positive note positivity for today was 1%)” Ministry of Health and Child Care stated in its official report.

The Ministry of Health’s recent reports have left out how many tests were being carried out, no doubt aware Zimbabwe was not doing anywhere near enough testing to for the official reported cases and deaths to be anywhere close to the reality on the ground.

And, most important of all, by failing to test and identifying those with the virus and putting them into isolation only means there are many out there spreading the virus far and wide!

In mid April when the country had 25 or so confirmed covid-19 cases and 3 deaths government promised to ramp up the testing, tracing and tracking to 1 000 test a day.

The increased tests would ensure corona virus frontline workers like health care workers would be tested regularly (at least once a week given most have no PPE) and all those with covid-19 like symptoms will be tested too.

By the beginning of July when the official confirmed cases had soared to 591 cases and 7 deaths the nation was assure the testing regime was to go up a gear. And yet today with the number of official confirmed cases at 6 412 the country is still performing only 602 tests per day!

With so few daily tests it is no wonder that many health care workers in Zimbabwe are yet to be tested. The only reason many, many people with all the covid-19 symptoms, some of them have since died, are not included in the official covid-19 cases and deaths, is because they have never been tested.

The Ministry of Health report did not say how many tests in total Zimbabwe have done to date, the last time that figure was given was end of July and it was 145 000 tests. SA, our neighbour with comparable covid-19 figures, carried out 3 million tests. Zimbabwe, with 1/4 the population, should have done 750 000 tests to keep pace with SA but had only done 1/5 or 20%!

To the end of July SA had 471 000 confirmed cases and a 1/4 of that means Zimbabwe had 117 000 confirmed cases compared to the 2 817 official confirmed cases. In other words out of every one tested positive and put into isolation there are 42 others who are positive and should be in isolation but are instead spreading the virus far and wide!

Zanu PF has been boasting already that the regime has done a stupendous job of containing the corona virus given the country’s per capita covid-19 confirmed cases and deaths remain one of the lowest in the world! A truly amazing achievement given Zimbabwe’s economy was, at the outbreak of the pandemic, in a total mess and still is today and so too was its health care services.

It is already becoming crystal clear that Zimbabwe’s official corona virus figures are not just an error but a deliberate and calculated lie. And, worst of all, a foolish lie as it has only resulted in the country having even more corona virus cases and deaths as the deliberate act of falsifying the figures meant the nation failed to take even the most common sense measures to contain the virus!

“Much fewer tests (602) done today!” Indeed, that is the heart and soul of Zanu PF’s corona virus strategy is to keep the official covid-19 cases and deaths low by doing as few confirmatory tests as the regime can get away with. The fewer the tests the lower the confirmed covid-19 cases and deaths and the greater the party’s claim to having done a great job containing the pandemic!

Zanu PF has completely ignored what the real covid-19 cases and deaths on the ground and does not care that the party’s obsession with falsifying the covid-19 situation is helping the virus spread. To discourage anyone publishing the real covid-19 figures as contrast to the fictitious official figures, the regime has already passed a law making it a criminal offence punishable by a 20 year jail term!

The real tragedy here is that many, many Zimbabweans have had the corona virus and many have died, a hell lot more than the official 6 412 cases and 196 deaths. Why Zimbabweans continue to suffer and bury their died blissfully oblivious of the reality and madness going on around them. How anyone can be so indifferent to their own fate is the real mystery and of tragedy.