70% of Zimbabwe's Covid-19 deaths recorded in January

Nearly 70 percent of Zimbabwe's confirmed COVID-19 deaths were recorded in January, highlighting a resurgence of the virus in the southern African country, Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health and Child Care said Monday.

In a statement, the ministry said in January alone, a total of 854 people died from the coronavirus, representing nearly 70 percent of all 1,217 fatalities recorded in the country since the onset of the virus in March last year.

Several high profile Zimbabweans have succumbed to COVID-19, including four cabinet ministers.

A total of 33,388 infections have been reported since March 2020, with 19,521 being recorded in January, data from the ministry shows.

However, new confirmed infections have been declining for the past week.

The national recovery rate currently stands at 78 percent, with 26,004 people having recovered from the virus.

Zimbabwe is in the middle of a six-week lockdown imposed to curtail the spread of the coronavirus.

The government is in the process of mobilizing the necessary resources to buy COVID-19 vaccines.

A total of 100 million U.S. dollars has been set aside so far for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccine doses, enough to inoculate at least 60 percent of the country's population.