DOCTORS have expressed surprise about Zimbabwe’s indefinite
coronavirus lockdown, which they say is futile in the absence of an expanded
testing and contact tracing programme for the disease, the Daily News reports.
This comes amid rising positive cases of coronavirus in the
country, which experts believe thrives the most in winter — which is looming
large.
The secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Association of
Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR), Norman Matara, told the Daily News yesterday that the indefinite extension of the national
lockdown was not backed by scientific information.
“We are not quite sure of the reasons they are giving for
extending the lockdown indefinitely because when it was announced there were
targets which were supposed to be met, including massive testing and contact
tracing.
“However, all that has not been done … It is all guesswork
because it was not based on any scientific model. “In the absence of massive testing, we really don’t see any
reason for extending the lockdown,” Matara said.
He also warned that without government providing safety
nets for people in the informal sector, there was also now a risk of the
country losing lives due to malnutrition-related deaths.
“We have seen in the past a steady increase of cases of
malnutrition, especially in children.
“We have heard from authorities that they will be assisting
with money to the vulnerable groups, but up to now we have not seen anyone who
has received it,” Matara added.
On his part, the secretary-general of the Senior Hospital
Doctors Association (SHDA), Arron Musara, said doctors were of the opinion that
the government should have relaxed the lockdown further.
“In terms of controlling Covid-19, I think we have made
progress, hence the general feeling among doctors is that there was need to
ease things more.
“There is a risk that we will lose more people to other
diseases that are not related to Covid-19,” he said.
In extending the
lockdown indefinitely at the weekend, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said while
indications were that the country had a reduced corona trajectory, there was still
need to ease out of the shutdown in a strategic and gradual manner, to maintain
the positive momentum.
“Despite these many achievements in the implementation of
the National Preparedness and Response Plan, the outbreak is not over, and our
country still has some gaps.
“These gaps are being addressed in a targeted way, using a
comprehensive Covid-19 preparedness and response strategy which takes into
account risks and needs of different communities and populations.
“Zimbabwe will, therefore, continue on level two lockdown
for an indefinite period. We shall have regular two-week interval reviews to
assess progress or lack of it,” Mnangagwa said.
The national lockdown, which was to end at midnight today,
was first put in place on March 30 — and had been extended twice before the
weekend’s announcement. Daily News
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