FACT CHECK: Hunan, Hubei or Wuhan? No, Zimbabwe did not receive traveler from 'worst hit Chinese province' - ZimFact
Ngoni Mhuruyengwe
March 2, 2020
CLAIM: A traveler from the Chinese province most hit by the coronavirus was allowed into Zimbabwe
VERDICT: False. A traveler arrived from Hunan province, and not Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.
Background
The Zimbabwe government posted on March 1, 2020, that a traveller had been tested for coronavirus after arriving at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport from China’s Hunan province.
The Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting tweeted:
“Govt would like to inform the public that today, a traveller from Hunan Province in China was flagged up as needing assessment for Coroner Virus (sic). Full WHO Protocols were deployed. The traveller has now been taken to designated Isolation Facilities where tests are being conducted”
A further update on March 2 said the test was negative.
The initial tweet drew replies claiming that the traveller was in fact from Wuhan, and that the reference to “Hunan” was a mistake by the Government.
The website NewZimbabwe.com, under the headline “Zim quarantines traveller from China’s coronavirus ravaged Hunan Province”, reported on March 1: “A new traveller from Hunan, the Chinese province most battered by the raging coronavirus scourge that has claimed thousands of lives around the world, has been placed under quarantine for assessment upon arrival by Zimbabwean authorities.”
The website further claimed that the “first outbreak of coronavirus was first detected in Hunan province”. The website repeated this claim on March 2.
This is not true.
The epicentre of the coronavirus is in fact the city of Wuhan, which is in the province of Hubei. Hubei province has recorded the most infections and deaths as a result of COVID-19. World Health Organisation statistics show that, as at March 1, Hubei had recorded 66,907 cases – three-quarters of all cases – and 2,761 deaths. Hunan province, where the traveller came from, had recorded 1,018 cases and four deaths.
Harare City health director Prosper Chonzi told NewsDay: “That person is not coming from Hubei (where the virus originated), but a different place and they have no symptoms, but we are just following what has to be done.”
The confusion arose from inadequate information on the Chinese provinces mentioned.
The traveller to Zimbabwe had been to the province of Hunan, which is a neighbouring province of Hubei in China. The city of Wuhan is the capital of Hubei Province.
The Hubei province has been on lockdown since January 23. This means that, as at March 2, no person can leave or enter Hubei without special authorisation, according to a notice by the Chinese National Immigration Administration. All commercial flights, trains and road links are closed to travellers.
This means a person cannot, on their own, leave Wuhan in Hubei to travel to any other parts of China, or to Zimbabwe.
“Due to the lockdown of the exit channels of Wuhan ports, exits through any ports of Wuhan can only be permitted with approval,” the notice says.
While travel is still possible from other parts of China, Zimbabwe currently has no direct flights from any city in China.
In its travel recommendations on February 29, the WHO said it “continues to advise against the application of travel or trade restrictions to countries experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks”.
Zimbabwe, like the bulk of other African countries, has not banned travel to and from China. However, Both China and Zimbabwe have urged their nationals to delay travel plans.
On Friday, February 7, Health Minister Obadiah Moyo, during a tour of health facilities in Bulawayo, said Zimbabweans should cancel travel to China.
“We are saying let’s not travel unnecessarily to those countries where the coronavirus is. Let’s not go to China right now. Let’s wait, postpone your trips to any other countries, which are affected. Let’s stay home and stay put,” Moyo was quoted as saying.
Below, a map by ThinkGlobal identifying 80 countries that had imposed some form of travel restrictions on China as at February 19:
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