Masiyiwa donates 120 000 Test Kits and border labs to Zimbabwe

By Mercy Shava

Businessman and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa has donated 120 000 test kits, and mobile test laboratories for use at border posts to Zimbabwe to help the country in its fight against coronavirus.

Masiyiwa, who also serves as Africa Union’s Special Envoy for Covid 19 made this donation to help the country to increase the daily number of Covid 19 tests and enable it to test travellers at border posts.

The donation of Test Kits includes 50 000 of the highly accurate PCR type Test, used by the government.

The Higherlife Foundation (HLF) Director Dr Kenny Mubaiwa revealed that some of the Kits will be handed directly to government, to help them in their national efforts to combat the pandemic and said his organisation is undertaking a donor co-funded initiative to test up to 10 000 Zimbabweans per day.

He also said the new Mobile Test Laboratories which have been ordered from Austria will allow the government to test travellers at the borders, within a matter of minutes.

“The borders are potential flash points for the super-spreading of the disease, and we have offered government a new type of Laboratory to help them in speed-testing at the Beitbridge boarder. The Mobile Labs can clear about 5 000 tests per day,” said Dr Kennedy Mubaiwa

Meanwhile Dr Mubaiwa said Higherlife Foundation was running numerous work streams under its “Operation #KickOut COVID!”.

“We are working on numerous fronts, and we have secured a number of donors through Mr Masiyiwa and his family, who also co-funds the projects that he arranges.

“We want to defeat COVID, and we have good professional working relationships with all arms of government. We don’t do anything without discussing with them. We are here to help the people of Zimbabwe, as we have done for more than 25 years,” Dr Mubaiwa said.
Zimbabwe now has 605 Covid 19 cases, with the majority of infections being of returnees from other countries. The test labs will boast the country’s efforts to contain the pandemic at the country’s entry points.