Authorities in Zimbabwe have started publicly naming people who escaped COVID-19 quarantine facilities, urging the public to report their whereabouts to help prevent further spread of the disease.

The Southern African country has reported 314 COVID-19 infections and four deaths, but has seen a recent spike in cases.

More than 3,700 patients are being kept in isolation centers after entering the country, mostly from South Africa and Botswana.

Millions of Zimbabweans left the country to seek economic opportunities elsewhere, but are now forced to return home after the pandemic battered their host countries' economies following weeks of shutdowns.

The government of Zimbabwe has now ordered that any persons arriving into the quarantine facilities surrender their identification documents to make it easier to trace them should they escape.

The health ministry has published the names of all the escapees on local newspapers and social media, and is calling upon Zimbabweans to report any people who cross the border illegally and don't go into quarantine centers.

Fear remains at a high in Southern Africa as COVID-19 numbers from South Africa continue to surge.

The country is the worst affected by the pandemic in Africa, having registered 52,991 infections and 1,162 fatalities, according to the U.S. based Johns Hopkins University.