Three passengers on bus from SA test positive for Covid

Police impounded a Sable bus caught offloading passengers and goods in Marondera after entering Zimbabwe without the passengers showing Covid-19 test certificates and then drove most of the way across Zimbabwe in defiance of the intercity passenger traffic ban.

After finding that none of the passengers had the required test certificates they were supposed to have presented when crossing the border, the crew and all passengers were sent for Covid-19 testing and three of the 38 passengers tested positive, leading to their immediate isolation.

National Police Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said that the police had already started investigating how the bus was able to drive into Zimbabwe and then all the way to Marondera before action was taken.

“The ZRP confirms that a Sable bus which had 38 passengers was impounded while offloading goods and some of the passengers at Metro Peech Marondera. The passengers had no Covid-19 test certificates.

“The bus had come from SA in circumstances which are being investigated by the police. Ministry of Health and Child Care officials tested the passengers with three registering Covid-19 positive results while the other 35 tested negative.

The bus company is now facing criminal charges while the passengers have been taken to Mahusekwa hospital for isolation. No to smuggling activities and spreading of Covid-19 pandemic,” Asst Comm Nyathi said. Most recently, a total of 49 returnees from South Africa were put into quarantine in Beitbridge following the interception of one of the passengers who had come from India and was travelling with a fake Covid-19 clearance certificate.

The woman, who is reported to have travelled from India (where there is a more virulent Covid-19 variant) via South Africa was busted by the Rapid Response Team aboard a Munenzva bus travelling from Johannesburg.

The bus was intercepted at the border during a routine Covid-19 screening.

Police and other security organs are working flat out to enforce the lockdown measures, meant to flatten the curve especially in the wake of the most dangerous third wave the country is battling to contain. The Chronicle