A senior health official in Beitbridge said that all soldiers and police officers currently deployed to the border town should be tested for coronavirus.
The call was made after South Africa withdrew 40 members of its army posted on the border with Zimbabwe for testing positive to COVID-19.
The health official, speaking to NewsDay on condition of anonymity, said:
It’s common cause these police interact with the same people that may have exposed SA soldiers.
Several SA institutions, including their side of the border post, Musina Police Station and several others, have been closed for decontamination when some staff members tested positive and that could easily be our case.
A senior police officer in Masvingo also expressed fear that State security personnel could have been exposed to the virus. The officer told the publication:
The same people travelling between Zimbabwe and SA interact with officials and people of both countries and can easily expose those on the front, thus spreading the disease.
Obviously, if SA soldiers were exposed by travellers, the same could have exposed our soldiers and police too.
Zimbabwe shares a long, porous border with South Africa, which is sitting at number five on the global infection statistics board after the United States, Brazil, India and Russia.
Until recently, most coronavirus cases recorded in Zimbabwe were from returnees from South Africa, Botswana, among other countries.
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