A 22-year-old man from Mpopoma suburb died on Friday from diarrhoea after he visited a relative in Luveve last week, CITE has learnt.
Luveve residents are currently battling a diarrhoea outbreak which is suspected to have been caused by contaminated tap water.
The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has identified the disease which has claimed more than nine lives in the area as Gastrointestinal Disease.
The latest victim has been identified as Ilamandla Nyathi.
Speaking to CITE, the deceased’s sister, Thabelani Nyathi said her brother used to visit her at her house in Luveve.
“He suffered from diarrhoea after visiting me in Luveve, he was even vomiting,” said Nyathi.
“He started complaining about diarrhoea around 11-12 June after visiting me as someone who often did and he was admitted at Mpilo hospital last week Thursday and he passed away on Friday,” she said.
City of Bulawayo director of Health Services Dr Edwin Sibanda said residents should practice good hygiene.
“I think we should all practice hygiene, the washing of hands with soap that is being spoken about in regards to Covid –19, it applies as well in Diarrhoea, you can use even sanitizers, and wash after using the toilet and touch less of surfaces,” said Dr Sibanda.
“At the moment maybe, water tends to go for many days in terms of tap water, when it comes back, we advise people to boil that water to ensure that it is safe for drinking.”
The local authority last week attended to over 726 suspected cases of Gastrointestinal Disease at Luveve Clinic and 37 people during home visits.
Contacted for a comment, ward 9 Councillor, Donaldson Mabutho also urged residents to practice maximum hygiene.
“We urge residents to exercise maximum hygiene, for people to be safe they should boil the water before they use it and make sure that all their containers and their surrounding environment are clean,” he said.
Member of Parliament for Pelandaba-Mpopoma constituency, Charles Moyo urged the government to urgently release devolution funds so that the local authority can attend to the water crisis.
“Government should own up and provide devolution funds to BCC and not tell us about the engineer who said there is no water problem in Bulawayo when we know that since 1912, the water crisis in Bulawayo has been a perennial problem,” said Mp Moyo.
“Government must release these funds so that the Council can see which short term methods they can use to solve this crisis while also focusing on Gwayi –Shangani dam solution.”
