ZIMBABWE faces the grim prospect of failing to control the
spread of the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) after it emerged yesterday that the
country’s health professionals were yet to receive the requisite training and
protective clothing to handle the pandemic which has so far globally recorded
13 671 deaths and 318 228 confirmed cases.
To date, the country has officially recorded two cases with
the third undergoing further tests, according to the Health and Child Care
ministry.
Local nurses’ union, the Zimbabwe Nurses Association (Zina)
yesterday gave government a 24-hour ultimatum to train its members and provide
protective clothing, failing which they would down tools for their own safety.
Zina president Enock Dongo told NewsDay that since COVID-19
was a new disease, there was urgent need for government to provide specialised
training and equipment to avoid exposure of its members to infection.
“Our concerns are genuine, the COVID-19 is a new disease
and the current nurses have never learned about it. Our government is very slow
in responding; the nurses have no information on the virus except reading the
guidelines on social media and newspapers. We are giving the government 24
hours to address our concerns or else we will withdraw our services because we
cannot put our members at risk.
This is a deadly disease that needs protective measures more than anything else,” Dongo said.
“When people fall sick, they come to the hospital and they
expect us to help them, but as of now, we do not know how to handle the
affected person. The pandemic has claimed thousands of lives and we are exposed
on a daily basis since we do not have any protective clothing to handle the
COVID-19 patients.”
He added: “If nurses attend to a COVID-19 patient without
protective clothing, they can be affected by the virus and after getting the
virus they board a Zupco bus where they will infect other passengers and the
disease spreads. So we are saying give us protective clothing before it’s too
late,”Dongo said.
Zimbabwe’s development partners among them, the People’s
Republic of China and United Kingdom last week gave US$26,388 million, while
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government contributed ZWL$20 million towards
upgrading of key infrastructure including hospitals, clinics and isolation
centres.
The funds are supposed to go towards logistics,
procurement, planning, monitoring, risk communication, community engagement,
surveillance, rapid response, case investigation including at points of entry,
national laboratory system, infection prevention, control and case management,
among others.
Dongo said despite putting aside a war chest, nothing on
the ground shows the nation is prepared to take on the virus.
Health secretary Agnes Mahomva confirmed that health
professionals were yet to be trained or provided with protective clothing.
“Yes, we are aware of the problems they are facing, but as
a government, we are working on that since COVID-19 is a priority at the
moment,” Mahomva said.
In Italy, latest figures show that healthcare workers make
up 9% of the country’s COVID-19 cases.
Italy, the current global epicentre of the pandemic,
yesterday had recorded 53 500 cases and over 4 800 deaths.
Health experts in Zimbabwe have been urging government to
impose strict travel restrictions, especially from high-risk countries to
minimise the spread given the country’s decayed public health system.
Community Working Group on Health executive director Itai
Rusike said he was worried that Zimbabwe continues to receive visitors from
high-risk areas.
“COVID-19 is spreading rapidly throughout the world. We are
worried by the seemingly lackadaisical nature at which the government is
dealing with the virus and yet other countries with well-functioning health
systems have announced total lockdown to combat the spread of the disease. We
are concerned that Zimbabwe continues to welcome visitors from high-risk
countries as if things are normal. Why should Zimbabwe wait until there is a
complete crisis to take drastic travel measures?” Rusike asked.
Zimbabwe Association for Human Rights Doctors secretary
Norman Matara said: “We need to implement travel restrictions just like what
other serious governments are doing. We have a weak health system which will
not be able to respond to a full-blown outbreak of this virus. Our best and
cheaper option is preventing an outbreak in the country.”
In a related matter, Bulawayo City Council’s acting health
services director Charles Malaba has advised residents to immediately bury
bodies of people who would have succumbed to coronavirus to avoid
cross-contamination.
“When it comes to disposal of bodies, we deal with the body
just like any other infectious diseases where the burial should be done
immediately and all the other rituals that are done like body viewing and
taking the body home will not happen,” Malaba said.
“We take the corpse to the cemetery and there is supervised
burial from our environmental health practitioners and at the cemetery we do
not have designated places for that. We will bury the bodies at cemeteries
where we bury all other people. What we do is we disinfect the grave using
chloride and then we make sure the burial is supervised all out.”
In Masvingo, most rural district councils (RDCs) have
suspended mobile open markets where traders travel around the province selling
their wares to thousands of villagers. The open markets, popularly known as
Bacossi, which are held once every month throughout the province attract thousands
of villagers.
Zaka Rural District Council was among the first to issue a
ban on open markets following Mnangagwa’s decree last week banning all
gatherings with more than 100 people after declaring the scourge a national
disaster.
Zaka RDC chief executive officer David Majaura issued a
circular banning all mobile open markets in the district. Bikita, Mwenezi and
Chivi RDCs later followed suit.
However, both Chiredzi rural and urban seem to be lagging
behind as the open markets were held this weekend.
Acting Chiredzi RDC chief executive Mikia Majatame said
they had a technical service meeting with councillors where they agreed to
disseminate the message on preventative measures.
In Chiredzi urban, all-night church gatherings were still
being held, while Chigarapasi which is probably the biggest council bar in the
province, was still being frequented by hundreds of patrons.
In Harare, it was business as usual in the city centre,
Magaba, Mupedzanhamo and Mbare Musika where most informal traders ply their
trade. A trader at Mbare Musika, who preferred anonymity, said some customers
wore masks and traders avoided unnecessary contact with customers and each
other.
Hatcliffe and Domboshava’s Showground markets were on
Saturday packed with traders and customers who were oblivious of the imminent
threat. Newsday
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