Zimbabwe coronavirus death: 'No ventilator' in ward

The local authorities in Zimbabwe’s capital have said they did everything they could to save the life of broadcaster Zororo Makamba, but did not have a ventilator.

The 30-year-old was admitted to Wilkins Hospital, administered by Harare City Council (HCC), on Saturday after testing positive for Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by coronavirus.

He died on Monday - the first person in the country to die after contracting the virus.

HCC is led by an opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) alliance.

Prosper Chonzi, the council's clinical director, told the state-run Herald newspaper that HCC had not received the funds to equip their facilities with the ventilators needed to deal with coronavirus cases.

“Out of the $6.7m (£5.6m), which we requested for Covid-19 response, we were only given $100,000,” he is quoted as saying.

Dr Chonzi added that the council was yet to receive that $100,000 from the government to upgrade the hospitals.

For patients critically ill with Covid-19, access to a ventilator could be a matter of life or death.

The machines get oxygen into the lungs and remove carbon dioxide from the body when people are too sick to breathe on their own.

Treatment for coronavirus relies on keeping the patient's body going, including breathing support, until their immune system can fight off the virus.