BY NIZBERT MOYO BULAWAYO metropolitan province has so far recorded a cumulative 155 deaths and 4 368 infections of the deadly COVID-19 virus. This comes on the backdrop of the country having recorded an unprecedented record high of 60 COVID-19 deaths within 24 hours on Monday. Acting Bulawayo provincial medical director Welcome Mlilo told Southern Eye yesterday that as of Tuesday, there were 26 new cases, 4 368 cumulative cases, four new deaths, 155 cumulative deaths, 110 new recoveries, 3 600 cumulative recoveries, 26 new active cases, 613 cumulative new cases and four institutional deaths. “Bulawayo metropolitan province, like the rest of the country, continues to record a high number of COVID-19 cases. The number of admissions at the hospitals due to COVID-19 continue to go up and we are also recording a notable number of COVID-19-related deaths,” he said. Mlilo said: “We are however, yet to experience shortage of hospital beds for COVID-19 admissions in the province.” He said the United Bulawayo Hospital had shouldered the biggest proportion of COVID-19 admissions to date. Thorngrove COVID-19 treatment facility, Mlilo added, was now also online, further increasing the province's admission capacity. He revealed that Ekusileni Hospital was not yet operational and work was in progress. Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also Health minister, has refuted claims the country's hospitals are overwhelmed following a surge in COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the year. He accused social media of communicating falsehoods that public and private hospitals had run out of beds and equipment. lFollow Nizbert on Twitter @N.M