President and First Secretary of ZANU PF Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa says the country is not out of the woods yet and cannot afford to relax over Corona Virus with the winter season approaching. He made the remarks at a COVID19 update press briefing held at the State House on day five of the 21 days of lockdown. “The COVID19 pandemic is nowhere close to loosening its grip on humanity. Globally, confirmed infections have now reached the one million mark. Recorded deaths from the pandemic are more than 52 000, with more still dying throughout the world,” President Mnangagwa said. “These galloping global figures may mean that the risk to our nation is rising and growing enormous by the day. Our infections stand at nine with one fatality recorded so far. The measures we have taken remain in place and appear to be paying off. “However the approaching winter season brings with it greater vulnerabilities. We cannot afford to be deceived by the small numbers of infections but we must continue to scale up our preparations. We are not out of the woods.” President Mnangagwa commended his people for their outstanding performance in adhering the the dictates of the lockdown.“As your President, I am proud of the way most of you have responded to the lockdown. Except where absolutely necessary, you have stayed at home, together with your families. You have observed and voluntarily enforced social distance and religiously followed routines of basic hygiene, as recommended by the World Health Organisation. Social interactions have either stopped or drastically reduced. We are on the right path,” President Mnangagwa said. “However this should not induce complacency among us but instead motivate us to do even more now and in the weeks and months ahead. A lot more will be expected from us. Let us all err on the side of abundant action. In self-discipline is our safety and collective security as a nation.”Strides made so far include in anticipation for an upsurge:1. More and better information flowing regularly2. More isolation centres established3. More tests being conducted4. More hospital beds devoted 5. Decentralisation of operations6. More Zimbabweans self-repatriating home from different paths of the world7. Bio-surveillance and contact tracking improved8. Increased involvement by various sectors