A near-doubling of coronavirus cases during the festive season has forced Zimbabwe to enact a strict 30-day national lockdown, limiting human activity to essential work and provisions.

Announcing the measures on Saturday night, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, also the minister of Health and Child Welfare, said starting Jan 3 funerals were limited to 30 people while all other gatherings at weddings, churches, bars, gymnasiums and restaurants were banned.

"Only essential services are to remain open, such as hospitals, pharmacies and supermarkets, with only essential staff allowed to come to work. These services can only open at 8 am and must close at 3 pm, and will be subject to curfews that start at 6 pm and end at 6 am," Chiwenga said.

Formal businesses and registered informal traders were similarly suspended beginning on Jan 5. Only mining, manufacturing, tourism, agriculture industries and air transportation will remain operational, subject to strict health guidelines as before.

Inter-provincial and inter-city transport services have also been limited to essential services, with schooling allowed to open only for exams. On Dec 30, the government postponed the opening of schools previously scheduled for Jan 4, citing a surge in COVID-19 infections and the emergence of a new and more contagious variant of the disease.

Cross-border travel, which opened in December for pedestrians and motorists, has also been halted, except for commercial and transit cargo related to essential and critical services.

The number of COVID-19 cases nearly doubled in two months, from 8,374 on Nov 1 to 14,084 cases by Jan 1.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare show by Jan 3, the country reported 774 new cases and 3 deaths. All new cases were local cases, mostly from capital Harare. Since the first case in March last year, Zimbabwe has to date cumulatively recorded 15,265 cases, 11,574 recoveries and 380 deaths.

Denford Chimutashu, president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers, welcomed the measures as highly necessary to avert a looming national coronavirus catastrophe.

Zimbabwe is the third country in Southern Africa to introduce new lockdown measures to tame a growing tide in new coronavirus cases. At the end of December, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa subjected the country to level-3 lockdown measures, which among other things prohibited public gatherings for 14 days, instituted a nationwide curfew and restricted operations of non-essential services.

On Sunday, Botswana extended restrictions in the movement of persons and suspended the sale of alcohol from Jan 4 to 31.