IN A refreshingly candid admission, Vice President Kembo
Mohadi says the government should do more to combat the spread of the
coronavirus pandemic in the country.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily News On Sunday —
after a meeting with doctors in Harare on Friday — the usually introverted
Mohadi said bluntly that he was not happy with what the country had done to
prepare for the lethal disease.
He also conceded that the number of people who have so far
been tested for the virus in the country, at less than 500, did not reflect
well on Zimbabwe’s efforts to combat the
global pandemic.
This comes as Zimbabwe has registered its third death from
coronavirus, from the 13 people who have so far tested positive for the deadly
disease — a development that has made the country’s Covid-19 mortality rate
among the highest in the world, at 27 percent.
It also comes as health experts have also raised the red flag
over Zimbabwe’s preparations for Covid-19, citing a glaring lack of testing
kits, intensive care units, ventilators and personal protective equipment
(PPE), among other critical things.
“Tests should be done expeditiously and they (doctors) said
we should also move out of Harare and go to other areas. Even before the
lockdown, we did not know who had been where and who they had visited and met.
We need to do more testing using facilities that are there. I am equally not
happy myself that we have only tested over 400 people. We need to have tested
more,” Mohadi said.
“The same with Bulawayo, we have an international airport
there. So, there is a possibility that we might be having people that might
have been somewhere who might have sneaked into the country without us knowing.
We need to do the necessary sampling,” the VP added.
Mohadi also disclosed that the government would soon
dispatch teams to hunt for possible cases at busy ports of entry such as Victoria
Falls and Beitbridge.
“The other area we will soon look at is Victoria Falls, as
well as areas like Buffalo Range … Doctors believe that if many people test
positive, Wilkins will be overwhelmed. It’s a small place. They said we must
refurbish Parirenyatwa and I agree with them. But there must be an area that
must deal specifically with coronavirus since the hospital also admits people
who are not Covid-19 patients.
“As I am talking to you now, members of the ad hoc
committees are in the provinces establishing structures. We want to
decentralise operations even up to the district level,” Mohadi said.
“We have some areas we think might be having people that
have the virus, especially in places like Beitbridge and Matabeleland South in
general, where most people go to seek employment in South Africa.
“Usually they will be working in Johannesburg, where there
is a high possibility of infections. We are also looking at areas like Masvingo
and Chipinge from where many people go to South Africa. A number of these
people are deported and … I don’t think they were screened enough. So, we need
to have tests in those areas now,” Mohadi said further.
Just before South Africa’s national lockdown a fortnight
ago, more than 13 000 Zimbabweans returned home through Beitbridge Border Post.
Although these people were screened before they were
released, the government says it is following up on them after the 14-day
incubation period to check for coronavirus symptoms.
But fresh doubts were raised on the country’s testing
thoroughness following the death of a 79-year-old Bulawayo man last week, who
succumbed to the lethal virus but whose results were only released four days
after his death.
He had been treated and held in a general ICU, where health
experts say he may have exposed other patients and health care workers there to
the deadly disease.
“The patient was treated at a local hospital. Is this an
infectious diseases hospital or a Covid-19 designated facility? The inability
to diagnose on time is a clear sign that health professionals attending the
deceased were exposed as they lack essential protective equipment. The patient
was first seen on March 23 and was not advised to self-quarantine … What is the
state of preparedness in centres outside Harare,” the Zimbabwe Association of
Doctors for Human Rights said after the man died.
And as concerns grow over the country’s rising coronavirus
death toll, Mohadi told the Daily News On Sunday that these deaths revealed
weaknesses in the country’s healthcare system.
“We are worried about the death rate as government. Even if
it was one percent, we would still be worried. It’s a new thing
(coronavirus),and we are still learning from other countries … doctors raised
concerns about their safety and that of their families.
“They don’t have enough personal protective equipment.
Psychologically, it affects everybody if you attend to someone who is Covid-19
positive. If he or she dies, and you don’t know if you contracted the disease …
so, doctors need to be equipped,” Mohadi said.
“It’s like taking soldiers into battle without ammunition. What
do you expect? You should expect a defeat. So, we need to equip them,” he
further told the Daily News On Sunday.
Mohadi also said committees that were set up to mobilise
resources to fight coronavirus were still seeking essential equipment and funding.
“Every day we are getting something from our friends around
the world and within Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans have responded well against this
virus,” he said.
The VP also revealed that Zimbabwe was yet to train more
health practitioners on how to handle the deadly virus.
“Doctors and nurses need to be trained and that training
has got to be done now. We must make it a point that they are trained.
“On the issue of incentives for doctors, the government is
looking into that. Doctors have had those grievances for a long time, but now,
coupled with the dangers that come with the virus, the situation has to be
looked at differently, because we need our patients to be attended to,” Mohadi
added.
This comes as the government has taken a lot of flak from a
large cross section of Zimbabweans for the manner in which it has been
preparing for Covid-19.
Presently, Zimbabwe does not have adequate quarantine centres,
with most parts of the country remaining uncovered — as the cash strapped
government struggles to mobilise resources.
In cities like Gweru, the government has set up a makeshift
centre — which has copped a lot of criticism — to quarantine possible positive
cases of the virus.
The country is currently in the middle of a 21-day lockdown
that was imposed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa last month in a bid to curb
the spread of Covid-19.
Coronavirus has killed about 105 000 people around the world
as of yesterday, with infection rates fast hurtling towards the two million
mark globally.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 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, flu, shortness
of breath and diarrhoea — and the precautions that have to be taken include
covering the mouth when coughing and sneezing, and continuously washing hands.
Daily News
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