President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to announce new
lockdown measures today, while the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary
and Secondary Education last Thursday said government was pondering over the
safe reopening of schools.
By last night, Zimbabwe had recorded 36 089 cases and 1 463
deaths. The Education Parliamentary Committee wants the ministry to seek tents
from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to create temporary classrooms to ensure
there is social distancing at learning institutions when schools reopen.
“Teachers must be prioritised for the COVID-19 vaccination
since they are frontline workers in the education sector,” read a report on
COVID-19 preparedness at schools by the committee..
“The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education must
engage with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) before schools open for a
transitional school mechanism whereby tents are used to create temporary
classrooms and ensure that learners have more learning time in school as compared
to the status quo, whereby some learners had been coming to school once a
week.”
The Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta) said schools
should be opened backed by scientific data to avoid having to be closed again.
“We must meet certain variables to ensure that once we have
opened schools, we have to sustain their re-opening. Let us do things based on
scientific data. Once we open schools and the economy, we must not find
ourselves in a position where we will be worse off than when we started.” Zimta
secretary-general Goodwill Taderera told NewsDay.
He said government should deal with the welfare of
teachers, as well as comply with the World Health Organisation standard
operating procedures and guidelines.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers Association president
Denford Mutashu urged government to reopen the economy.
“We have been thrown into abject poverty in an economy that
is more than 65% informal, and where people have been living from hand-to-mouth
since January. Now there is no need to continue with the COVID-19 lockdown
extension,” he said.
“What we need to do is to continue the fight against
COVID-19 through accelerated nationwide vaccination and preventative measures
while adopting a measured reopening of the economy as the majority of people
are struggling.”
MDC Alliance secretary for health, Henry Madzorera said the
country could not be in perpetual lockdown.
“We cannot be in perpetual lockdown, especially in a
country where there are no social safety nets, but the decision to lift the
lockdown must be based on data and science, not on political considerations,”
he said.
“Weaponisation of the lockdown is a tragedy, and many in
Zimbabwe feel the lockdown is being used as a political weapon.”
Medical and Dental Private Practitioners Association of
Zimbabwe executive president Johannes Marisa said: “We expect businesses to
resume operations although with some strict recommendations. Schools must open
in March and surely, weddings must be allowed as well as church gatherings. The
curfew must actually be removed.
“We shouldn’t be very strict, but we have to balance
economic activities with public health. Continuing with the lockdown is useless
as many people are actually defying the lockdown measures mainly because they
can’t survive; they have been impoverished, there are very poor people and are
at a standstill.”
Community Working Group on Health executive director Itai
Rusike said: “We expect the government to manage the pandemic effectively and
strategically. They must keep people informed about the intended duration of
their measures to provide support for the elderly, persons with disabilities
and other vulnerable groups to ensure the welfare of people who have lost their
incomes and are in desperate need of food, water and other essential services.”
Meanwhile, Health deputy minister John Mangwiro last week
told Parliament that the country was expecting more vaccines, adding that they
would not only rely on Sinopharm, but would include Sputnik V (Russia), Sinovac
(China) and Indian vaccines.
Zimbabwe has started rolling out its COVID-19 vaccination
programme, with 18 843 people having been inoculated by yesterday morning after
the country received 200 000 Sinopharm doses donated by China two weeks ago.
Newsday
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