Zimbabwe's government on Saturday imposed a national lockdown following a surge in Covid-19 cases. Only essential services, such as hospitals, pharmacies and supermarkets will remain operational for the next 30 days.

The government first imposed a nationwide lockdown in March to contain the spread of Covid-19, but had eased most of those measures amid fears of further economic malaise

Vice President and Health minister Constantino Chiwenga told reporters there had been a huge spike in cases over the festive season which almost doubled the number of infections recorded throughout the year.

Gatherings have been reduced to a maximum of 30 people and a curfew is in place from 6pm to 6am.

The government says the number of cases recorded over the festive season almost doubled from infections recorded so far this year.

Covid 19 cases doubled in two months from 8374 at the start of November, to 14084 now.

A total of 369 virus-related deaths have been record in the country since the outbreak of the pandemic