HEALTH authorities in Bulawayo are overwhelmed and counting
losses from Covid-19 false alarms emanating from fake distress calls and social
media messages.
So far, one positive Covid-19 case has been recorded in
Zimbabwe but Government has stepped up measures to decisively mitigate its
impact.
Public gatherings of more than 100 people have been banned
and this year’s Independence Day celebrations and the Zimbabwe International
Trade Fair (ZITF) both scheduled for next month in Bulawayo were postponed.
To scale up the country’s preparedness President Mnangagwa
on Thursday launched the Covid-19 National Preparedness and Response Plan and
announced the closure of learning institutions on Tuesday.
The Bulawayo City Council Health Services Department has
since urged members of the public to desist from making false distress calls or
sharing and creating false messages that alarm the pubic on Covid-19 as this
wastes the time of health staff and other resources.
During a visit by members of the parliamentary committee on
health and child care to Mpilo Central Hospital, United Bulawayo Hospitals
(UBH) and Thongrove Infections Diseases Hospitals on Thursday, health personnel
at the medical institutions told MPs that people raising false alarms either
call the hospitals directly or the Bulawayo City Council tollfree numbers.
They said sometimes calls are made to the port health desk
at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport and the Beitbridge Border Post.
Some people allegedly call the airport’s port health desk
and falsely claim that someone who used that port of entry is now sick while
distress calls made to Beitbridge Border Post also have a negative bearing as
Thorngrove Infectious Diseases Hospital caters for the entire southern region.
There have also been a number of fake social media messages about Covid-19
cases at Mpilo Central and UBH over the past days, with some voice notes on
WhatsApp circulating purporting that some positive cases had been confirmed.
The messages have
since been dismissed by health authorities in the city.
Bulawayo City Council acting director of the Health
Services Department Mr Charles Malaba said council was already operating under
a tight budget and false alarms were eroding the few available resources that
were available.
“Already resources
are limited. We all know the situation in the country, so when there are these
false alarms, we have personnel who are already working under pressure rushing
across town.
“They will suffer from exhaustion and burn out from
nothing. Our ambulances for the rapid response team run out of fuel, and
imagine burning fuel for false alarms. That is another resource that has been
wasted because of irresponsible individuals. It is wiser for people to keep
quiet if they do not know or to seek the audience of the relevant people,” said
Mr Malaba.
He also bemoaned the abuse of social media platform by
people who are spreading fake messages on social media about Covid-19 in the
city.
Mr Malaba described their actions as reckless and
irresponsible.
“We are facing a potential crisis, but you find that some
people amongst us have the time and audacity to spread falsehoods, such fake
messages do not end as jokes. They are unfair as they may arrive at some ears
as truth. Not everyone has the gift of separating fact from hoaxes,” said Mr
Malaba.
United Bulawayo Hospitals Chief Executive officer MS
Nonhlanhla Ndlovu shared the sentiments.
She said it was unfortunate that people find amusement in
making the public panic through false alarms.
Ms Ndlovu said the hospital has called the Rapid Response
Team from Thorngrove Infectious Diseases Hospital due to false alarms.
“We have had cases of false alarms and rumours started that
there are confirmed cases at the hospital and that really creates fear and
mistrust as people will start thinking that the hospital is hiding something.
“We have on numerous times called the Rapid Response Team
from Thorngrove to the hospital only to find that it is just false alarms. They
may end up irritated and fatigued as a result of actions of insensitive members
of the public,” she said.
During a Press briefing yesterday, BCC Health Services
Department deputy director and coordinator in charge of Covid-19 rapid response
preparedness, Dr Khulamuzi Nyathi said council was concerned over false
information on the pandemic.
He said recently council received a message that there was
a person who had coronavirus symptoms and after making a follow up on the case
they did not find the said individual.
“We dispatched a rapid
response team. We went to all the areas that were said in the message. When we
failed to get the person, we went to the source following up on everyone who
had forwarded the message. At the end we hit a brick wall. But in the process,
we were spending airtime, we are spending fuel just because someone is sending
message that they did not verify. At the end of the day we would be using some
of the resources that could have been channelled towards more probably cases,”
he said.
Yesterday the Secretary for Information, Publicity and
Broadcasting Services Mr Nick Mangwana said some people had been arrested in
Kenya, South Africa, the United States and Mizoram in India for spreading false
coronavirus messages.
“Many have taken action, we will also act,” he tweeted. Chronicle
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