2021, staying afloat during a pandemic

Roselyne Sachiti Features, Health and Society Editor

THE year 2021 was interesting.

It had its ups and downs in equal measure.

Covid-19 continued to stalk the globe, Zimbabwe included.

The year started on a good note as var­ious vaccines got World Health Organisa­tion emergency use listing allowing nations to select vaccines of their choice and start vaccinating people.

Zimbabwe began its vaccination pro­gramme in February with essential service providers getting first priority and others following.

The vaccination programme brought the much needed hope as life would slowly go back to normal.

People started trickling back to church, beer halls were allowed to open business as lockdown measures and restrictions were eased throughout the year.

For others this was a year to innovate as the pandemic brought with it new oppor­tunities.

Both formal and informal businesses had no choice but do things differently to avoid heavy income and job losses.

Some women owned small businesses affected by the lockdown ventured into new ways getting their wares delivered to Zimbabwe from other countries through transporters known as “runners”.

The women also used technology, advertising their wares on Whatsapp plat­forms and on the then Facebook.

This kept their businesses afloat as Whatsapp groups were used to market and sell wares in the absence of physical business.

The women say their innovativeness paid off as they stayed afloat during the year.

“It was difficult at first but we sailed through because of various methods we adopted to keep our businesses afloat. I was able to pay my bills, funeral policy, children’s school fees, and rentals at my small shop,” she said.

She also said she got vaccinated once the programme opened to other people.

In the formal sector, the funeral services industry was also affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

When Covid-19 deaths went up as a result of the Delta variant, over and above deaths from other causes, funeral service providers were left over -burdened as the numbers of people requiring their services suddenly went up.

This required quick thinking and inno­vation.

Speaking to The Herald, Nyaradzo Group operations manager Mr Justin Chidemo Muchazivepi said as a result of Covid-19, the increasing number of deaths stretched service provision, especially around the time the Delta variant was detected in Zimbabwe.

He said at times, they had to plead with mourners to alter body collection times. This, he said, affected departure times as people would not leave when they wanted.

“Numbers would go up overnight and we would sometimes wake up with triple the number of people requiring our ser­vices,” he said.

To make the situation worse, some staff members also got infected with the Covid-19 virus and were required to isolate and quarantine for 14 days. This meant reduced numbers of those assisting the bereaved.

“Imagine for example having 20 drivers down with Covid-19 and at the same time want to serve bereaved families. We had everything, our resources were all there but staff not,” he said.

Staff, he also said were afraid of inter­acting with bereaved families, especially at the start of the pandemic.

“Nothing much was known about Covid-19 and they were scared as they interacted with some bereaved people, who were caregivers to the deceased. It was a difficult time,” he said.

To overcome the problem, they sought help from sister companies under the Nyaradzo Group. Employees from the other subsidiaries would work in the funeral services department.

“Mid 2021, we also engaged labour bro­kers to cover up for the gaps created by shortages of drivers who would have fallen sick. This helped manage the situation. We also rotated staff and bought laptops and tablets for those whose duties permitted them to work from home,” he added.

He also said they reduced the numbers of family members coming to consult to only two and those attending chapel ser­vices were trimmed to five.

“To adhere to Covid-19 regulations of limiting the numbers of people at funerals, we facilitated live streaming services for proceedings for family members who were not able to be part of the physical services.”

With PPEs sometimes expensive, and to cope, he said Sahwira Labs manufactured their own reusable jumpsuits, body bags, and also sanitisers.

Mr Muchazivepi also said they have been working with other stakeholders like the police, registrar general’s office and hospitals for quick and efficient removal of bodies.

“There is now a registrar general’s office serving the public at our Herbert Chitepo and Chitungwiza branches.

“The bereaved can get burial orders. This is not only for Nyaradzo funeral policy holders only, but other people can use the facility. There is also a police post at these two branches,” he added.

He said the Covid-19 pandemic has made them more innovative with the Sahwira lab about to go commercial so they can sell PPEs to others.

Community Working Group on Health executive director Mr Itai Rusike com­mended government for the good pro­gress with its Covid-19 national vaccination roll-out programme which began in 2021, especially its efforts in making sure that vaccines are procured and made available to the general public willing to take up the vaccine.

“We now need to urgently address the issue of vaccine equity, vaccine literacy and vaccine hesitancy so that we can increase vaccine uptake and demystify misinfor­mation and disinformation.

“The government deserves some credit in the way they have handled the Covid-19 pandemic.

“They have ensured a steady supply of the Covid-19 vaccines and they have also handled the situation much better despite our limited resources,” he said.

Mr Rusike said the government has also done generally well in ensuring that national programs to combat chronic con­ditions such as HIV and AIDS as well as maternal and child health care services continue to function with limited disrup­tions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We now need to quickly start imple­menting the directive of President Mnan­gagwa on the administration of a national Covid-19 booster jab to the frontline health workers, people with chronic health con­ditions and the elderly without any delay,” he said.