"We have registered 27 confirmed cases in one
day and all are returnees from South Africa. They have now been isolated,” announced
Nick Mangwana, Information Ministry permanent secretary, on twitter.
The total number of confirmed cases has now surged
to 314 up from 63 on 26th May, that is 251 cases in 14 days. Other than the 12
or so reported as “local” the remaining 239 are all “returnees”, who are all in
quarantine centres.
There are two important issues that the Ministry of
Health must now answer;
a)
Are Zimbabwe’s quarantine centres
covid-19 hotspots?
It is no secret that returnees are accommodated in
unhygienic conditions where 10 or more have to share the toilet, washing
facilities, etc. So of the centre do not even have something as basic as clean
running water.
Returnees are required to stay at the quarantine
centres for 21 days and many have often been forced to stay longer because they
were waiting to be tested or for the test results to come out. The quarantine
period becomes meaningless if people arrive at the centre at different times
mix freely.
A number of returnees have escaped from quarantine
centres putting the nation at great risk. Whilst the cabinet decision to
withhold the ID and/or travel documents of the returnees when they arrive and
only give these back at the end of the quarantine stay is unacceptable
especially when government is the one at fault in failing to provide safe
quarantine centres.
b)
How many covid-19 tests have been carried
out on suspected local cases?
The number of “local” confirmed cases and deaths is
low but we can only be certain this is indeed the case in reality if we test,
track and trace aggressively in the local community. It is no secret that we
have not been testing all patients and deaths at our clinics and hospitals who
have covid-19 like symptoms.
Staying home is the best one can do to ensure they
do not catch the corona virus but many people will be forced to venture out to
get food, medicine, go to school, to work, etc. It is government’s duty to test,
track and trace the spread of the virus in the community and make sure everyone
is aware of the risk they will be taking each time the venture out of their
door. No one should die of ignorance. No one!
There is no doubt that quarantine centres are now covid-19 hotspots. The regime is squandering billions of dollars building Mnangagwa's palatial bunker - the country's second Blue Roof mansion -, billions of dollars in buying the top brass in the Police, Army, CIO and Prison Services new cars over and above the usual extravagant wastes. And yet is failing to install something as basic as clean running water in these quarantine centres!
ReplyDeleteMany people have escaped from these quarantines because they know they are being kept there until the catch the virus and recover or die. And all the pompous regime will do in response is keep the returnees captive by taking away their IDs! What a nightmare!
I agree, the regime is not testing for covid-19 in the community because it does not want the nation to know the virus is spreading among the locals. The regime derives a great sense of pride is having one of the lowest per capita confirmed covid-19 cases in the world. It does not care the accolade comes from falsified figure just as it has never cared its electoral victory have come from rigged election processes.
The price of falsifying covid-19 figures is that many, many more people will now get the virus because they just did not know the virus was more widespread than the regime admitted. Talk of institutionalised criminal negligence – here is one example of it!
This Zanu PF regime does not care how many Zimbabweans die of covid-19, all it cares about is that the world is kept in the dark of the exact figure. The tragedy is the WHO is playing along!
@ Dr Masimba Mavaza
ReplyDeleteYou are a Zanu PF apologists always keen to sing the praises of the regime you have no regard of the facts, truth and reason.
“But on this fight Zimbabwe must never forget the man who commanded the armies in the fight against Corona virus. The whole country was the army. The president of Zimbabwe was the Commander in Chief but the General of the multitudes is none other than comrade doctor Obadiah Moyo the minister of Health and Child Care,” you said.
There is all the evidence to prove that Zimbabwe’s quarantine centres and so unhygienic they are now the corona virus hotspots. Many of them do not even have clean running water! Was it not general Obadiah Moyo who has approved these centres as fit for purpose?
Of course, Minister Obadiah Moyo knows that Zimbabwe has not been testing people for corona virus in our clinics and hospitals. One of these fine days he will be called upon to account for this; mark my words!
As for you, Mavaza, one hopes that justice will visit you for your role in cheering and applauding this corrupt, incompetent and murderous regime at the expense of the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans who have paid dearly for having such a cursed government!
COVID-19 continues to spread in Africa since the virus was first detected on the continent in mid-February 2020. More than 200 000 cases have been confirmed so far, with more than 5600 deaths. The pandemic is accelerating – it took 98 days to reach 100 000 cases and only 18 days to move to 200 000 cases.
ReplyDeleteTen out of 54 countries are currently driving the rise in numbers, accounting for nearly 80% of all the cases. More than 70% of the deaths are taking place in only five countries: Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan.
Countries like SA and Egypt have many confirmed covid-19 cases but only because they have been testing, tracking and tracing. Countries like Zimbabwe and Tanzania have not been testing at anywhere near what they should. In the case of Zimbabwe even some reported covid-19 confirmed cases have not been included in the official figures. By under reporting the corona virus cases Africa has only helped the virus spread far and wide.
Now the pandemic is accelerating the seriousness of the pandemic will be felt. Whilst as much as 1% of the population in developing countries succumbed to covid-19 in Africa the five will soar to 5 to 10%!
THE United Nations has condemned the poor standard of Zimbabwe's quarantine facilities, amid skyrocketing cases of the Covid-19 pandemic in quarantine centres and massive looting of funds by government officials and people linked to the political elite.
ReplyDeleteThe deplorable state of the quarantine facilities as well as a lack of standard operating procedures have put thousands of lives at risk.
A report titled Assessment of Covid-19 Quarantine Facilities in Zimbabwe compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) together with the Health and Child Care ministry from 17 to 21 May 2020 concluded that the centres are not operating optimally.
By Wednesday this week, Zimbabwe had 320 confirmed Covid-19 cases, with the bulk of them being returnees under isolation at quarantine centres.
"There is lack of guidance of how the facilities should be operating and the minimum requirements are not clearly spelt out. There is no guidance on IPC (infection prevention and control) issues at the facilities. Generally, PPEs (personal protective equipment) are in short supply," the report reads.
"In some facilities, roles and responsibilities are not clearly defined. The workers lack basic information and knowledge on Covid-19. The occupants are not practicing maximum safety measures to avoid or limit transmission within the facilities."
The report also noted lack of adherence to social distancing, poor hygiene, shortage of staff, lack of medical care and incoherent data collection among other poor practices.
Continued
ReplyDeleteIn accordance with Statutory Instrument 83 of 2020, all returnees are supposed to undergo mandatory quarantine for 21 days.
However, the appalling conditions at quarantine centres have resulted in some returnees escaping from the facilities while protests and clashes have been experienced at others over delays in testing and discharging the returnees.
Every returnee is supposed to be tested on admission and upon discharge, but the UN report noted that in 100% of the facilities the results came very late, if at all.
"This results in the occupants staying without knowing their Covid-19 status and prolongs their stay in the facility," it reads.
The UN made several recommendations, including screening and testing of staff working at the centres, mobilising adequate sample collection supplies and ensuring equidistribution to facilities, developing and distributing standard operating procedures and guidelines for the centres, training of staff, and the provision of adequate supplies for infection prevention and control.
The damming report comes amid revelations of massive corruption in the procurement of Covid-19 materials with protective clothing and equipment being been sold to the government at inflated prices.
Among the companies implicated in the scandals are Drax International, which has been linked to President Emmerson Mnangagwa's family and Jaji Investments, also linked to the first family.
The levels of corruption caught the attention of South Africa opposition leader Julius Malema, who yesterday described it as cruel and evil.
"We applaud the fight against corruption and looting of public funds going on in Zimbabwe. It is cruel and evil for anyone regardless of who they are to steal money meant to help citizens fight Covid-19. There is nothing revolutionary or patriotic about thieving. Pasi neMbavha! (down with thieves", he wrote on Twitter yesterday.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission this week questioned National Pharmaceutical company (NatPharm) officials, together with Finance permanent secretary George Guvamatanga and Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe officials.
During the UN assessment, a total of 37 quarantine centres were evaluated. Of these, 34 belong to the Ministry of Education, one to the Forestry Commission, one
is a hotel and another centre belongs to the Civil Service Commission.
The facilities had a total capacity of 5 790 beds. At the time of the assessment visit, there were a total of 1 889 occupants constituting 33% occupancy
For Pete’s sake, do we really need the UN to tell us that we must have clean running water, that people at these centres must be kept separate, etc.?
It is most disheartening that these quarantine centres have become covid-19 hotspots resulting in many people getting the virus and, given the chaotic conditions at the centres, these infected individuals have in turn infected others and ultimately let the virus lose in the rest of the community.
In a country like Zimbabwe people know that they cannot rely on the illegitimate (of course Zanu PF rigged the July 2018 elections) ruling elite to do anything right. Zimbabweans cannot rely on their equally corrupt and incompetent opposition to supervise the ruling elite either. So, the nation has had to look to organisations like the UN for help.
It has taken the WHO buffoons months to finally get off their fat backsides and inspect these quarantine centres.
How long, I wonder, will it take the WHO buffoons to finally wake-up to the reality that this Zanu PF regime is not testing for covid-19 among the local community?
This report puts to shame Zanu PF apologists like Dr Masimba Mavaza who went to town in praising Mnangagwa and Minister Obadiah Moyo for their handling of the covid-19 pandemic!
ReplyDelete“But on this fight Zimbabwe must never forget the man who commanded the armies in the fight against Corona virus. The whole country was the army. The president of Zimbabwe was the Commander in Chief but the General of the multitudes is none other than comrade doctor Obadiah Moyo the minister of Health and Child Care,” the apologist argued.
“Dr Obadiah Moyo is a visionary and creative leader with a proven track record in both medical and executive management. He is an experienced manager who adopts a professional "hands on" approach. He is skilled in problem solving and obtaining achievements by using initiative and drive to gain results. Believes in loyalty and commitment to an organization, utilizing available facilities and resources to produce the best possible results. He won several international awards in recognition of his contribution to the international society in Nephrology and Pathology. Through his achievements, he is rated as an eminent strategist in the medical industry in Zimbabwe and the region. Dr Moyo is a registered Renal Specialist and Consultant Chemical Pathologist.”
And after all that praising it turns out the country’s quarantine centres were covid-19 hotspots because there is not even the most basic hygiene conditions and there is total chaos!
The trouble with apologists like Dr Mavaza is they have no respect for truth, reason and facts and, worst of all, they have no respect for other people’s freedoms and rights including the right to life. Of course, he is aware that by allowing quarantine centres to become covid-19 hotspots it was putting many people at risk of catching the virus and that many would die. He did not give a damn about that all he cared about is his thirty pieces of silver reward from Zanu PF!
In reopening the informal market, Mnangagwa placed conditions.
ReplyDeleteMnangagwa said all those in the informal sector, who have not formally registered themselves or their enterprises, are directed to do so forthwith.
June, July and August are the cold winter months in Zimbabwe, the time when many people have flu. And corona virus, being a flu-like illness, infection is expected to increase and the facts on the ground confirms this is indeed the case. Zimbabwe’s covid-19 confirmed cases have surged from 63 on 26 May to 314 on 9 June. Therefore it does not make any sense to be relaxing the lockdown conditions at the very time when the corona virus infections are set to go up!
We are, once again witness a situation where government is making decision on corona virus issue without any scientific data to back it up. It is no secret that government has not been carrying out test on locals who have covid-19 like symptoms. Why are we not testing, tacking and tracing as aggressively as the WHO has been calling for all these last months!
A total of 197 health workers at the hospital were placed in self-isolation on May 28 following the positive tests.
ReplyDeleteIndications are that two of the people contracted the coronavirus after they had been admitted at the hospital, while the third person was an outpatient.
According to reports, it is suspected that the nurse contracted COVID-19 due to interaction with one of the infected patients who had visited the referral hospital.
After the cases were confirmed, the city's rapid response team was contacted to contain the potential spread of the virus.
Through contact tracing, however, the team identified 197 health workers who were at high risk of contracting the disease, and placed them on 14-day mandatory self-isolation while under surveillance.
Meanwhile, Mpilo Central Hospital remains open to admit patients despite its 197 staff members being sent on self-quarantine.
Delays in testing have been a major concern for most quarantined citizens, prompting those who are isolated at public facilities to protest and bribe their way out.
Some have fled without being tested for the virulent virus.
It is clear the authorities did an excellent job in tracing 197 hospital workers who were at risk of getting the virus from the 4 confirmed cases. What is in doubt here is whether any effort was made to track and trace members of the public who too came into close conduct with the 4?
Whilst the authorities have been testing people who had been outside the country, they have not been testing locals. The story behind the 4 Mpilo Hospital confirmed cases suggests that corona virus is already out there among the locals and it is inexcusable to pretend otherwise and putting more and more people at risk as the virus continue to spread.
Zimbabwe’s confirmed covid-19 cases have gone up to 343 with 11 new cases all returnees from SA and the country has done 57 598 tests as of 12 June 2020.
ReplyDeleteThe country carried out 387 RDT and 465 PCR tests, it has very rarely ever reached its target of 1 000 test per day promised in April. The nation was told the regime will carry out 30 000 to 40 000 tests by the end of April and we are now half-way through June and the country has only done 57 598 tests.
What is equally worrying is the government is not testing for covid-19 among the local population hence the reason we here of new returnee cases but hardly any among the locals. We know the virus is now spreading in the local community and will only know how bad the situation is by testing. Why are we not testing all individuals with covid-19 like symptoms attended to at all our clinics and hospitals?
Zimbabwe is going to pay dearly for failing to test and thus know how the virus was spreading country wide.
Government officials in Chikomba district on Friday appealed to local business people to donate food to feed returnees who are running out of basic provisions at the St Francis of Assisi High School quarantine centre.
ReplyDeleteThe officials held a meeting with local business people and asked for food, clothes and cash donations to improve the welfare of the 29 returnees.
The WB gave US$ 7 million to Zimbabwe to help fight the corona virus pandemic, a fraction of what it gave other nation for the same cause because Zimbabwe has a reputation of wasting donor funds and its own resources. It is no secret that Zimbabwe’s ruling elite live in palatial mansions with a lavish lifestyle to match.
Right now there is a the Drax scandal in which the company was awarded the contract to supply corona virus stuff worth millions of dollars without going to tender. Mnangagwa’s son is reportedly involved!
Donors are sick and tired of being taken for a ride. It is for Zimbabweans themselves to make sure there is no corrupt and we have allowed the scourge to become rampant and now we must pay for it.
Zimbabwe was already in serious trouble after 40 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. The corona virus pandemic is only piling more trouble to a troubled nation. There is a crying need for Zimbabweans to finally wake up to the reality that they need a competent and accountable government.
It is during these tough times of war, pandemic, etc. that the individual as well as nation’s worth it truly tested to the limit; when the going gets tough and rough, the tough get going!
Zimbabwe recorded 13 cases of Covid-19 on Saturday, bringing the country’s total to 356.
ReplyDeleteTwelve are citizens who returned from South Africa and one from the United Kingdom, the Ministry of Health and Child Care said in a statement released on Sunday morning.
The number of people who had recovered rose to 54 while death toll remained at four.
The country had done a total of 58,239 Covid-19 tests to date.
Here we go again; how is it possible that we continue to have covid-19 cases in among returnee but none among the locals. People have been calling for Zimbabwe to carry out more local testing, tracking and tracing and, up to now. it seems this government has not been testing among locals!
“I have almost clocked three months at this place and nobody has bothered to explain to us what is happening.
ReplyDelete“We understand the people whom we checked in together, in Harare and other centres have already been released. We have families to look after and there is no point of keeping us here suffering,” he said.
There are also reports that some inmates at the United College of Education have also overstayed.
The inmates have been staging daily demonstrations at the centre in protest over the conditions.
Government has been struggling to avail test kits, something that has seen returnees overstay in quarantine centres dotted around the country amid food shortages and other challenges.
It is been said again and again that Zimbabwe’s quarantine centres are so unhygienic they are covid-19 hotspots and this is exactly what they are. The WHO has added its voice in condemning these centres. It is most disheartening that the government has turned a deaf ear to all these voices.
It is unbelievable that many of these centres do not even have running water! How much would it cost to install a water tank?
It will not take much to keep the various groups apart, the individuals will police the rules themselves because they all understand that is the only way to stop the virus spreading in the centre. Why those who have just arrived are allowed to mix with everyone else, for example, beggars belief!