Coronavirus: Manhunt as 500 flee quarantine in Zimbabwe and Malawi

Manhunts have begun after hundreds of people, some with the coronavirus, fled quarantine centres in Zimbabwe and Malawi.

Manhunts have begun after hundreds of people, some with the coronavirus, fled quarantine centres in Zimbabwe and Malawi.

Authorities worry they will spread COVID-19 in countries whose health systems can be rapidly overwhelmed.

In Malawi, more than 400 people recently repatriated from South Africa fled a centre at a stadium in Blantyre, jumping a fence or strolling out the gate as police and health workers watched.

At least 46 of the escapees had tested positive for the virus, and some who fled told reporters that they had bribed the police.

In Zimbabwe, police spokesman Paul Nyathi said officers were “hunting down” more than 100 people who escaped from centres where a 21-day quarantine is mandatory for those returning from abroad.

Nearly all of Zimbabwe’s 75 new cases this week came from the centres, which hold hundreds who have returned, sometimes involuntarily, from neigh­bouring South Africa and Botswana. The country’s information minister said the government was increasing security at the centres.

AP