B-METRO COMMENT: Let us play our part in Covid-19 fight

RARELY has a disease caused so much disruption around the world as the Coronavirus (Covid-19). Most businesses will feel the full impact of the pandemic for years to come and even its psychological aftershocks will reverberate hauntingly into the future.

Humanity has been rendered largely powerless but amid the unfolding disaster we are slowly finding each other across the globe, showing that we can overcome any challenge if we show unity of purpose.

Apart from a few rumblings of discord from some quarters that are still bent on giving the virus a Chinese identity, much of the world is pre-occupied with finding solutions and even adopting best practices from China’s experiences with the outbreak. We believe it is a matter of life and death and not the time to be pointing fingers. Let us co-operate with health authorities and also read widely about the infection so that we do not inadvertently spread alarm and despondency through misinformation.

Now is the time for our citizens to show responsibility and patriotism by making the necessary sacrifices such as following social distancing guidelines and many other measures taken by the State.

These are not normal times and we cannot continue to behave as if we are unaware that we are faced with a global crisis that could wipe us off the face of the earth if we let our guard down. It is not just for the sake of keeping fellow Zimbabweans safe but once we play our part we slow down the spread of the virus even across our borders, thus contributing towards the global effort to slow down in the short term, and eliminate the virus in the long term from the world.

Zimbabwe might have only three confirmed cases, and one death but so many remain untested out there and many more could be positive, hence the importance of isolation so that we do not overwhelm our fragile healthcare system. We are counting on you Zimbabwe; we can do this! Covid-19 is real and wreaking havoc around the world. Let us avoid gatherings, keep indoors and protect others should we suspect to be infected.