Vusumuzi Dube
Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor
COVID-19 has negatively affected the Bulawayo City Council’s capacity to attend to sewer burst in the city amid revelations that five out of the eights tasked with this duty are currently in quarantine and isolation.
The country has over the past couple of months recorded a steady surge in new cases and fatalities due to the pandemic as he continues to feel the impact of the Third Wave.
The city’s town clerk, Mr Christopher Dube, in a statement revealed that the surge in new cases has grossly affected them which has seen entire teams going on quarantine when one of them tests positive for the pandemic.
“Whilst all the precautionary measures of masking up, social distancing and hand sanitizing have been meticulously observed as well as vaccination is underway, this has not averted the spread of Covid-19 among Council staff, especially outside the work environment.
“The Covid-19 cases have resulted, in some instances, to the quarantine of the whole teams, wherein a member has tested positive, with five out of eight teams currently in quarantine and isolation. As a consequence, a further increase of the sewer blockage backlog might be observed. Council is currently exploring ways to combat the situation through other means,” said Mr Dube.
He said the current shortages have since reduced staffing levels available to attend to outstanding sewer blockages throughout the city, hence negatively impacting on the reaction time for attending to sewer reports.
Bongani Ndlovu