Zimbabwe Deports Zambian Fishermen After One Tests Positive For Covid-19

Authorities in Zimbabwe have deported nine Zambian fishermen who were arrested for illegally fishing on the Zimbabwean side of Lake Kariba after one of them tested positive for Covid-19. 

The fisherman were arrested in Zimbabwe on Monday night and have since been taken to Siavonga on the Zambian side of the border to be quarantined. 

Siavonga District Commissioner Lovmore Kanyama said the Zimbabwean authorities had decided to deport the men rather than issue a custodial sentence because one of them is said to have tested positive for Covid-19.

Health workers in Siavonga have issued their own Covid-19 tests to verify the results. 

DC Kanyama said that two other fisherman, who had managed to evade arrest by swimming to shore, had also been traced and quarantined. 

The district commissioner said test results for the quarantined fishermen were expected on Thursday or Friday. 

There has been a rising incidence of Zambians being arrested for illegally fishing in in Zimbabwe in recent years, with many Zambians currently serving sentences in Zimbabwean prisons.