Correction: The purported cabinet note dismissing Health and Child Care Minister Obadiah Moyo has been disputed.

Given the latest development, it means the Health Minister remains at post as he answers charges of COVID-19 supplies related corruption in a Harare court.

Zimbabwe’s latest virus stats are as follows:

Confirmed cases = 486 (7 new cases, all imported – six from South Africa, one from Portugal)

Active cases = 416

Recoveries = 64

Number of deaths = 6

Ministry of Health and Child Care stats valid as of June 20, 2020

Our original story published Sunday morning is below:

Obadiah Moyo, Zimbabwe’s embattled health minister has been fired by president Emmerson Mnangagwa, hours after he appeared before a court for charges relating to COVID-19 supplies related corruption.

A statement signed by chief secretary to the president and cabinet read in part: President of the Republic has “removed Obadiah Moyo from Office of Cabinet Minister and Minister of Government with immediate effect for conduct inappropriate for a Minister of Government.”

The scandal which been tagged COVIDgate has for weeks now roiled the country and played out on social media, where journalists and activists exposed how Moyo allegedly chose the company to sell medical supplies to the government at inflated prices that included face masks for $28 each.