Subsidised COVID-19 tests for cross-border traders

COVID-19 tests for cross-border traders have been drastically slashed from US$60 to US$15 following an agreement between their association and a laboratory based in Bulawayo.

Zimbabwe opened its borders to the travelling public on December 1 after nearly nine months of lockdown and thousands of cross-border traders have been struggling to pay the US$60 for mandatory COVID-19 tests required for one to cross the borders.

Zimbabwe Cross-Border Traders Association president Killer Zivhu told journalists in Harare yesterday that cross-border traders would now be charged US$15 for PCR tests with the association paying the difference.

"We have secured 60 000 test kits, but we want to increase them to 500 000 so that our members are able to travel outside the country to trade," Zivhu said.

"Most of our members are poor and have not been working for the past nine months because of the lockdown, hence they cannot afford the $60 currently being charged on the market.

"On their way back to the country, they will pay only $10 for another test but this time around they will not be given certificates."