Zimbabwe's government imposes national lockdown

Zimbabwe's government on Saturday imposed a national lockdown following a surge in Covid-19 cases.

Only essential services, such as hospitals, pharmacies and supermarkets will remain operational for the next 30 days.

The government first imposed a nationwide lockdown in March to contain the spread of Covid-19, but had eased most of those measures amid fears of further economic malaise

Vice President and Health minister Constantino Chiwenga told reporters there had been a huge spike in cases over the festive season which almost doubled the number of infections recorded throughout the year.

Gatherings have been reduced to a maximum of 30 people and a curfew is in place from 6pm to 6am.

The government says the number of cases recorded over the festive season almost doubled from infections recorded so far this year.

Covid-19 cases doubled in two months from 8374 at the start of November, to 14084 now.

A total of 369 virus-related deaths have been record in the country since the outbreak of the pandemic