THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health has
expressed reservations about Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport’s
capacity to effectively detect travellers with coronavirus (Covid-19) on
arrival.
This comes after a visit by the committee to the largest
airport in the country and Wilkins Hospital in Harare to assess the state of
preparedness to deal with the deadly virus, which has claimed over 4 000 and infected more than 115 000 people globally.
Ruth Labode, the chairperson of the committee, said
parliamentarians were not happy with the state of preparedness at the
international airport. They were, however, impressed with what they saw at
Wilkins Hospital, which can accommodate 35 coronavirus patience at a time.
“There are concerted efforts by our foot soldiers — at
Wilkins and at the RGM International Airport — and I was impressed by the level
of preparedness at the Wilkins Hospital.
“I discovered that the health workers at Wilkins are well
equipped and trained to deal with the disease, but more needs to be done at our
ports of entry, especially RGM International Airport, which is porous,” Labode
said.
“During the tour of the airport, I discovered that while
the workers were putting on their preventative clothing, I witnessed an
employee who was interacting with travellers coming from outside the country
without a mask.
“Employees at the entry points have to be extremely
cautious to curb the spread of the virus.” Labode evaluated the RGM International Airport’s state of
preparedness at 60 percent.
“There are some gaps at the airport that need to be plugged
in the wake of Covid-19.
“There is need for proper training among the health
practitioners manning the airport. Once our health staffers are protected then
all of us are protected as well.
“I have discovered that people are conscious about the
virus, but it seems there are no adequate resources, making our entry points
porous. I can give this airport 60 percent in terms of their preparedness
against Covid-19,” said Labode.
RGM airport head of Immigration Evans Siziba said arrivals
at the airport had gone down, adding that workers at the complex did not have
adequate gear to protect them from contracting the virus.
“Most of the protective gear, including masks, is bought in
foreign currency which we do not have.
“We used to have many people coming from China, but since
the outbreak of the Covid-19, the figures have drastically dropped. We are now
sitting on 30 percent,” Siziba said.
According to the World Health Organisation, the coronavirus
comes from a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the
common cold to more severe diseases.
Its symptoms include
pneumonia, high fever, flue, shortness of breath and diarrhoea, and the
precautions that have to be taken include covering one’s mouth when coughing
and sneezing, and continuously washing one’s hands.
0 comments:
Post a Comment