HEALTH professionals have accused government of allegedly concealing COVID-19 statistics in the country to give the impression that the virulent disease was under control at a time it has ballooned out of control, with nurses and doctors having been turned into “super spreaders”of the deadly virus.
Dozens of doctors and nurses recently reportedly tested
positive to the COVID-19 virus, while others have since succumbed to the
respiratory disease.
The country is currently grappling with the soaring numbers
of COVID-19 infections that have risen to 33 548 and 1 234 deaths as of Monday.
The Zimbabwe Senior Doctors Association, in a statement
yesterday, said the pandemic had become a vicious robber to the medical
fraternity where it has killed several frontline workers.
“COVID-19 has been a vicious robber to the medical
fraternity in Zimbabwe this year. We mourn our specialist surgeon brother
Tendai Mutwira barely a week after losing Professor James Hakim,” the senior
doctors said.
Bulawayo-based medical doctor, Cherifa Sururu also
succumbed to COVID-19, while there were reports that 66 members of staff at
Chinhoyi General Hospital tested positive to the virus this week.
Zimbabwe Nurses Association president Enock Dongo said it
was heart-breaking that the government continued to ignore a High Court order
compelling it to provide health professionals with adequate personal protective
equipment (PPE) and other necessities to prevent them from contracting the
virus during the course of their duties.
“We don’t have statistics of how many nurses nationally
have been infected and affected by COVID-19. They (government) don’t want to
give us that (statistics),” Dongo said.
“When we talk of COVID-19, everyone with a problem
converges at a hospital. The same health workers exposed to COVID-19 use Zupco
buses on their way home, they use the same supermarkets
with the rest of the people, and they go home to interact with tenants and
family.
“You find that health workers are now the super spreaders
of COVID-19, and without addressing the issue of protecting health workers
through reducing the hours spent at hospitals and giving them proper PPEs, we
are not going to succeed in controlling COVID-19,” he said.
Dongo said most hospitals and clinics had closed because
they were struggling to cope with pressure.
“This has all been caused by the defiance of the High Court
order by the (Health and Child Care) secretary (Jasper Chimedza) to decongest
hospitals.”
He warned that the few health centres operating would soon
result in the majority of their workforce being in quarantine.
“The moment you protect the health workers, you will be
protecting the nation because their numbers to different locations, using
public transport and spreading COVID-19. Those are simple things that a normal
person should look into.”
Teclar Barangwe, member of the Medical Workers’ Union said
private health institutions were also neglecting their workers, adding that one
of the private clinics in the country recently lost a nurse to the pandemic on
Sunday.
“We lost one of our nurses on Sunday and the majority of
workers are testing positive to COVID-19. Employers are refusing to pay
COVID-19 allowances. The majority of centres are now taking COVID-19 patients,
but are refusing to pay workers’ allowances. The issue of medication for workers
who test positive is also an issue of concern. The employers are not taking
care of them,” she said.
In a statement on COVID-19 yesterday which was issued by
Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa, government claimed that the surge in
COVID-19 cases was now under control, but did not mention anything about the
health workers.
Mutsvangwa warned those that continued to flout COVID-19
regulations, saying to date 21 647 people had been arrested.
Meanwhile, China has pledged to assist the troubled Zimbabwean
government with COVID-19 vaccines together with 12 other developing countries.
“Zimbabwe will be one of the first 13 countries to receive
vaccine aid from China very soon,” Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe, Guo Shaochun
said on his official Twitter handle.
The Asian giant’s Foreign Affairs ministry spokesperson
Wang Wenbin also issued a statement saying Zimbabwe and other developing
countries that include Belarus, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone will get the
vaccines to combat the coronavirus.
“Firstly, apart from Pakistan, China is also providing
vaccine aid to Brunei, Nepal, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Sri
Lanka, Mongolia, Pakistan, Belarus, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Equatorial
Guinea, altogether 13 developing countries,” the Chinese Foreign Affairs
ministry spokesperson said.
It was not clear when China would avail the vaccine to
Zimbabwe. Reports also reveal that Zimbabweans based in South Africa will
benefit from the COVID-19 vaccination programme, which will be rolled out soon
in the neighbouring country.
This was revealed by South African President Cyril
Ramaphosa on Tuesday night, while addressing the nation.
South Africa has secured over 40 million doses of COVID-19
vaccines, which will be rolled out in phases.
“We aim to make the vaccine available to all adults in SA,
regardless of their citizenship or residence status. We will be putting in
place measures to deal with the challenge of undocumented migrants so that, as
with all other people, we can properly record and track their vaccination
history,” Ramaphosa said.
Executive director of the Community Working Group on Health
(CWGH) Itai Rusike said he was concerned that the 2021 National Budget did not
allocate additional resources to fight COVID-19 in the country.
“This will impact negatively on the government’s capacity to deliver proper and decent healthcare, and in turn, an extensive national vaccination programme. We also need better human resourcing if we are to adequately respond to this pandemic,” Rusike said.
While some Zimbabweans have expressed doubt about accepting
the COVID-19 vaccines, the director of the Africa Centre for Disease Control
(CDC) and Prevention, John Nkengasong for African Union encouraged Africans to
accept the vaccines.
“There is need to strengthen capacity (vaccine
manufacturing) as part of our health security apparatus on the continent. There
are three things that you need to guarantee your health security in terms of
emerging disease; the ability to manufacture vaccines, the ability to produce
diagnosis and the ability to manufacture drugs. If you miss any of the three,
you are struck with the ability to fight effectively any pandemic,” he said
during a CDC weekly Press briefing. Newsday
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