MY people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge!
This Biblical adage could aptly describe the retrogressive
hate and stigma a Bulawayo health care worker who contracted the deadly
Coronavirus while on duty is being subjected to. At a time the whole world is
celebrating the sacrifices of health care workers who are in the frontline
fighting the virus, Zimbabweans have reduced the health worker and a family to
the most loathed and stigmatised lot in Bulawayo.
Popularly known as case 16, the health worker who still
prefers to be anonymous months after she recovered, says it will take decades
for her family to get over the hate and shame they were subjected to by locals.
When the first cases were reported in Zimbabwe, many people
thought then that being infected with the virus meant automatic death hence the
fear to associate with those infected.
Some even went to the extent of calling for the relocation
of infected individuals and their families. What is comforting is that as
people got to know more about the virus, it became clear that with adherence to
health measures like self-isolation, social distancing and regular
sanitisations, infected people do not pose a danger to others.
Unbeknown to members of the public who were persecuting
case 16 on social media is that she burnt most of her property and prepared for
death a few days after news about her testing positive went viral.
She was labelled the ‘deliberate spreader of Covid-19’ and
she is still struggling to come to terms with the social, spiritual and even
economic effects of the treatment she got.
Neighbours spread hate-filled messages about how she was
careless and wanted to kill everyone by carelessly infecting them with the
deadly virus that has infected about 29 million people worldwide and killed
nearly 926 000 this year.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that the
Covid-19 outbreak has provoked social stigma and discriminatory behaviours
against people perceived to have been in contact with the virus.
In a special paper on stigma around Covid-19, WHO said the
discrimination stems from three overlapping factors. “First, it is a disease
that’s new and for which there are still many unknowns. Second, we are often
afraid of the unknown, and third, it is easy to associate that fear with
others.”
Nurses who are among the Covid-19 frontline workers have
also reportedly faced stigmatisation and discrimination across the country, a
development that has seen some of them being evicted from their lodgings as
landlords and fellow tenants fear that they are carriers of the virus.
In some instances, nurses are shunned by family and friends
and face discrimination when using public transport and when they are shopping
at supermarkets.
Health workers have been greatly exposed to Covid-19 and by
the end of last month, statistics indicated more than 400 had been infected
countrywide.
On April 7, Ian Hyslop succumbed to Covid-19 being the
first victim in Bulawayo. Then the virus was still alien to many as it was
considered a disease from China.
Case 16 had faithfully offered health care services to the
late Hyslop who was admitted to the hospital where she was working, ignorant of
his status. The interaction with the patient was at most two hours and she was
infected.
Days later she tested positive and discovered that the
Covid-19 had spread to her daughter, two grandchildren and one tenant’s child
who was under her care.
They have been referred to as Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 case#16,
#19, #20, #21 and #22.
The backlash she received after her status, name, address,
cell phone number was publicised is a classic example of how careless handling
of Covid-19 cases can result in stigma and more suffering for the infected and
the affected.
It could be the reason why despite recording 5 675
recoveries to date in Zimbabwe, only a handful are willing to come out and
share their experiences.
Speaking out during a women’s round table Covid-19 Media
training recently, Case 16’s daughter who also prefers to be called Case 21,
said the stigma against them was so deep-rooted, it has become the cause of the
family’s recent misfortunes.
Although she is training to be a teacher at one of the
local colleges, she says the stigma suffered has stripped her of confidence and
self-worth as a woman, teacher and a human being.
“I am case 21 whose mother contracted Covid-19 while doing
her duties at a hospital in Bulawayo. I am still not comfortable speaking out
because I am afraid of suffering more although all of us have recovered from
Covid-19,” she says.
“We were loathed, no one wanted to hear us out or even
understand what we were going through considering that we were the very first
few people who contracted the disease in April.”
“When my mother’s patient died, it dawned on us that we
would die because then there were only deaths and new cases in Zimbabwe. We had
not yet recorded any recoveries.”
She says the shock deterred them from telling their closest
relatives who eventually found out when their names and contact details were
publicised.
Case 21 says neighbours and community members immediately
developed ‘Covid-19 eyes’ which they used whenever they looked at any of the
family members.
“Within a few days one of our tenants moved out saying he was
ordered to do so by his employer. As if that was not enough, people stopped
buying from our vending stall. We ended up eating everything ourselves as we
were suddenly ‘barred’ from leaving the house, even to buy food. We were being
labelled deliberate spreaders roaming around Bulawayo,” she says.
“My mother kept chickens to complement her income and she
was forced to give them away as well because we were convinced death was near.”
According to Case 21, they concluded that they were dying
soon as Covid was killing people at a very fast rate the world over.
“We started destroying our clothes and pots as we heard
that after our death these would easily spread the disease. We did not see life
after Covid-19 and we spent the most horrific 40 days in isolation.”
She says the family is still trying to replace all that was
destroyed after members of the public gave the family a ‘death sentence’.
On hearing the news, Case 21 says one of her relatives
collapsed and the family kept receiving phone calls from all over with most
insulting them for putting the lives of members of the public at risk.
“On May 24 we were all confirmed recovered and though that
was supposed to bring relief, the situation worsened. My mother almost lost her
sanity and despite our ordeal, we tried to move on,” says Case 21.
“Our neighbours still do not buy from us which means we
cannot easily make a living like before. Recently we attended my mother’s
friend’s funeral. Although we kept our distance, people including church
members chose to stand as far away from us as possible, preferring to expose
themselves to rain rather than come near us because to them we are still the
spreaders.”
According to her, Covid-19 has left deep wounds in their
lives which will outlive the virus.
“Despite the fact that we are fine now, I wonder if I will
be able to stand in front of children when we open and teach them confidently.
My 10-year-old daughter is still traumatised as she does not understand what
was going on and I hope that one day we will get over this and lead normal
lives again,” she says.
“I wish people would take time to read and at least have a
know-how of how this disease spreads before saying hurtful things whose impact
will live on in our broken hearts post Covid-19,” she says. Chronicle
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