THOUSANDS of commuters were yesterday turned away from
entering Harare’s central business district (CBD) as the Government tightened
screws on the Covid-19 induced lockdown after a spike in the number of
infections and apparent laxity in adherence to lockdown restrictions among the
public.
With cases spiking due to an increased number of returnees
from neighbouring countries, who are testing positive for Covid-19, the
national Covid-19 coordinator in the Office of the President and Cabinet Dr
Agnes Mahomva said while nothing had changed regarding current restrictions,
law enforcers were also tightening their response after noticing laxities.
“There was a meeting, which noted that some sections of the
society seemed to be relaxing as far as Covid-19 restrictions are concerned. It
was as if the country had gone back to its old normal so I want to believe that
this is part of intensifying enforcement of lockdown measures under Level 2.
“In terms of restrictions enunciated by President
Mnangagwa, nothing has changed yet. We are still on Level 2,” said Dr Mahomva.
She however, said should current measures fail to prevent
further transmission of the virus in the country, the Government would consider
a review.
Zimbabwe presently has 206 cases of Covid-19 with 29
recoveries, 170 active cases and four deaths. The majority of infections are returning citizens, who are
mandatorily required to be quarantined for 21 days.
Of concern to Government is the increase in the number of
people who are fleeing from quarantine facilities that are dotted around the
country before completion of the 21-day period and testing for the global
contagion.
Apart from that, there has been a disturbing laxity on the
part of the public since scaling down of the lockdown to Level 2, which was
extended indefinitely a fortnight ago by the President.
Consequently, combined security services, including the
police and the military, were in full force along arterial roads leading into
Harare’s CBD and turned away thousands of people who were trying to sneak into
town for non-essential services.
Private vehicles and conventional buses were turned away
from town, while in the city centre non-essential businesses were told to close
shop.
As such police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul
Nyathi reminded the public that Zimbabwe was still under lockdown and therefore
there was need to observe the strict Covid-19 guidelines.
“The ZRP (Zimbabwe Republic Police) urges members of the
public to observe that the country is still under Level 2 national lockdown in
order to manage the Covid-19 pandemic. Only essential services, businesses in
the formal commercial and industrial sectors were exempted to operate during
this period.
“The rest of the public should stay at home in order for
the nation to curtail the increase in new Covid-19 cases being recorded. Please
note that it is not everyone who should be in the CBD. Let us all be security
and health-conscious in view of the increase of Covid-19 cases,” said Nyathi.
Last month, the President announced that Zimbabwe would
continue under Level 2 lockdown for an indefinite period.
“Zimbabwe will, therefore, continue on the Level 2 lockdown
for an indefinite period. We shall have regular two-week interval reviews to
assess progress or lack of it. This should give us more time to strengthen the
prevention and case management approaches for the various risk populations,” he
said.
Since the beginning of the lockdown, 50 729 people have
been arrested for flouting lockdown regulations, most of them for unnecessary
movement or failure to wear a mask.
Those arrested have been slapped with fines of $500 and
warned not to breach the regulations again.
Meanwhile, the African Union Centres for Disease Control
released a continental guidance on easing lockdown measures to member states.
In its report released on Sunday, the AU CDC said Covid-19
was likely to be around for a long time, hence countries must start preparing
for a new normal, arguing that sustained restrictions were detrimental to
routine public health services, social and mental health as well as the
economy.
“Given the likely duration of this epidemic, it is
important to plan for easing measures in ways that allow the trajectory of the
virus to be controlled,” reads part of the report.
The AU CDC said when easing restrictions, member states
should do so gradually, starting with most affected areas and monitored for any
possible influx in new cases.
In response to the first cases of Covid-19 reported across
the continent, many countries, including Zimbabwe, implemented large-scale
public health and social measures rapidly.
These measures were meant to give countries room to ramp up
preparedness with the ultimate goal of reducing transmission.
While these quick actions bought time for many countries,
many have started feeling the negative socio-economic impacts and countries are
now exploring how best to ease these measures back while still managing the
outbreak. Herald
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