Chronicle Editor
Bongani Ndlovu, Chronicle Correspondent
Revelry will surely be the death of us!
The way people in Zimbabwe love to party during this lockdown is likely to result in a second wave of infections during Covid-19 times.
Bars and places of leisure know that people are hungry to go out and have some fun, after almost a year of being at home because of lockdowns and the like.
The Bulawayo night life, of late, ever since bars and restaurants were given the green light to reopen, has come alive, with hordes of people looking for fun.
The city has of late started recording an increase in new Covid-19 cases and now has the highest number of active cases in the country.
Bulawayo had almost half of the country’s active Covid-19 cases at 114 while the national figure stood at 248 as of Saturday.
But this shocking reality seems not to scare people, they seem not to care.
People are not supposed to sit in bars but should order and leave, but this is not the case.
Bars are supposed to close at 6.30PM like any other business, but this isn’t the case.
Not more than 100 people should be in the nightspot, but this is not the case.
The cars outside these places are an indication that there is revelry happening inside.
When Ginimbi and Shasha visited Bulawayo two weeks ago, the venue that hosted them, 12th Avenue had cars parked along the road. Inside the venue, it was packed. It was as if revellers had been freed, from the shackles of sitting at home and had found a good excuse to do so by going out that night.
Last week, Chronicle observed at a nightspot at the Bradfield shops that has become the defacto venue of pleasure for people to congregate there every weekend. They do so until the wee hours of the night.
Inside, the venue is small, humid and packed with people and one can only fear for the coronavirus in the air as some reveller jokingly said last week. Some revellers, a few to be frank, adorn their masks, which looks like a futile attempt to protect themselves, as if sensing that coronavirus is in the air.
Here the Shisha smoking which health experts have said can transmit coronavirus when sharing the pipe is being served. Wafts of smoke are blown in the air contributing to the stuffiness of the venue.
People are putting their lives at risk because of this sharing and caring behaviour with the shisha pipe, while dancing in close proximity.
A braai spot on the edge of the city along Robert Mugabe Way, is also popular with party lovers as each weekend cars are parked outside, while people drink in their groups. But as long as there are people drinking the risk of infecting each other still remains high.
This is because with each alcoholic drink, elbow greetings turn into fist bumps, then they turn into handshakes, then hugs then kisses on some occasions. The moral of the story, no social distancing will be practised.
The home of striptease in Bulawayo was also a hive of activity and it is reported that the establishment is open for business to a select few clients.
At a braai spot in Luveve, weekend after weekend, people congregate there with cars parked eating and drinking.
They purchase their alcohol and meat at the shops.
Worldwide, the opening of bars and leisure sports has been identified as the root cause of spikes in new infections.
According to NewStatesman, United Kingdom’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, informed MPs that the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care in northern England might surpass the April peak — and that one of the main culprits was the hospitality industry.
Whitty showed the MPs unpublished figures that suggested pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés accounted for 30 percent of common exposure settings in England, with the figure rising to 41 percent for those under the age of 30. — @bonganinkunzi
Online Reporter