GOVERNMENT is accommodating returning residents in private
hotels and lodges and $175 million has been allocated to cater for their
welfare and the upgrading of quarantine facilities.
The decision to put returnees in quarantine facilities is
meant to ensure that they are cleared of Covid-19, minimising risk of spreading
the virus.
In Bulawayo, Khumalo Hotel in Kumalo and Standard Hotel in
the city centre have been identified as some of the quarantine facilities
housing returning residents together with Insinga Youth Centre situated in
Barham Green. Khumalo Hotel is housing female returnees while Standard Hotel
and Insinga Youth Centre are accommodating males.
In Harare, Courteney Hotel is one of the new quarantine
facilities.
Since the country recorded the first Covid-19 case in
March, most of the confirmed cases were from citizens returning from South
Africa, Botswana, United Kingdom among other countries.
The returnees were housed in schools and colleges before
Government resolved that the institutions must be evacuated in preparation for
their reopening.
Bulawayo Polytechnic College and United College of
Education were used as the main quarantine facilities for returnees in
Bulawayo. Returnees at both colleges were removed over the weekend in
preparation for the colleges reopening on Monday with some of them being placed
in local hotels.
In Bulawayo, 134 returnees are still quarantined although
authorities did not give specific details of the number of people at each
facility. Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Professor Paul
Mavima said Government used hotels as quarantine facilities due to shortage of
alternative public infrastructure to house returnees.
“We really had to make sure that whatever we are paying
does not come near commercial rates being paid at bigger hotels. We are using
private hotels but the expensive ones we are not using as Government. The
expensive ones are where people are paying for themselves. But what we have
done is that we are using budget hotels which means those that are not costly,”
said Minister Mavima.
“We have that arrangement in Harare and similar
arrangements in Victoria Falls. I know there are lodges and similar facilities
that have been acquired for that purpose. This has been necessitated by the
fact that we had to move out of schools as well as institutions of higher
learning.”
He said usage of hotels is not permanent as Government was
renovating some vocational training centres among other institutions to make
them conducive for habitation.
“The Ministry has been given a budget of $175 million for
the purposes of taking care of the quarantine centres. So, it also means that
whatever amount we are paying to these facilities is coming from that budget.
So far, $125 million has already been released to us and only $50 million is
outstanding. Should we need additional resources we will have to go to finance.
But this was a very tactical decision that we had to make because we had run
out of space to put returnees,” said Minister Mavima.
He said Government was also addressing issues to do with
delays in testing of returnees for Covid-19 during their stay in holding
facilities.
Returning residents are expected to stay for 21-days in
quarantine facilities before being released to communities. “The situation was
very bad about two to three weeks ago but Government then assigned Deputy
Minister of Health and Child Care (Dr John Mangwiro) to be responsible for
coordinating logistics and make sure that tests kits are available and also
that results from the tests are delivered as quickly as possible.
And we have seen a lot of improvements,” he said.
Prof Mavima said the donation of 30 000 tests kits by China
will also address problems associated with delays in conducting mandatory
Covid-19 tests and releasing returnees from holding facilities.
Hospitality Industry Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) chairperson
Mr Arnold Musonza said players in the sector are benefiting under the
Government programme to quarantine returnees in their facilities.
He said accommodating returnees in hotels could also
address the problem of them escaping from holding facilities.
“It’s a good thing that some of the hotels have been
identified for that and offered those services. It also helps those owners to
get income during these hard times because a lot of such facilities are closed
down and are unable to get any income yet they still have fixed costs to take
care of,” he said.
“But you also need to know that what they are offering is
basically public service because they can’t be offering services like they are
offering to the leisure market. In a nut shell they are recovering costs.”
Chronicle
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