Stop Covid-19 from spreading like veld fire

Stephen Mpofu

Should Zimbabweans continue defiantly to sabotage Government measures to check the spread of Covid-19 the nation will end up “harvesting bodies” of victims of the deadly virus, a medical doctor warned Bulawayo this week.

A current surge of the killer virus across the country, as reported by health authorities daily, was due to people ignoring Government guidelines such as wearing masks, social distancing and avoiding crowds and large gatherings among other precautions – defiance’s that the doctor from a referral city hospital, but who may not be named for ethical reasons, previously warned against in a report published in these columns.

For example, 610 new cases of the virus were reported by the Health Ministry on Wednesday alone, slightly down from just over 1000 cases reported the previous day and all of which were said to be local transmissions.

Some concerned citizens among the public suspect, however, that Zimbabweans working and living in SADC countries, such as South Africa with the highest rate in the region, may be responsible for infecting friends, relatives and others while in the country during the Christmas festive season or that locals engaged in shopping sprees in South Africa and other SADC states may have a part in swelling the infection rate of late.

The doctor mentioned in this discourse went further and said if the head-in-the-sand attitude displayed by some people against his warning – and those of other health personnel – against strict adherence to measures meant to stop the Covid-19 pandemic spreading like veld fires in this country, will make some victims “see for themselves, like snuff at the nose” and say of me: “truly, his mouth does not fall down.”

He said further that distances separating homesteads in rural areas, as compared with crowded residential houses in urban areas, helped in preventing the coronavirus spreading like veld fire there.

However, villagers not wearing masks or practising self-distanciation at beer drinks for instance or funerals, posed risks of spreading the coronavirus to others.

In addition, the requirement for villagers to report deaths to the police in order for burial permits to be issued, but without determination being made as to the cause of death which might be due to coronavirus infection, posed a problem since those carrying the virus remained unidentified and posing greater risks to communities out there.

Asked if animals were susceptible to coronavirus as well as to a reported new wave of a more contagious strain of the pathogen now also reported to have been discovered in South Africa, the doctor said small animals like cats appeared to be at greater risk.

For instance, he said, millions of minks – semi aquatic mammals with dark fur and native to Europe and America – had reportedly been destroyed in Denmark to prevent the spread of the annihilative strain of the coronavirus.

Back to urban areas, the doctor said that in addition to the raft of anti-coronavirus measures it was important for people to also wash food, such as chickens bought from shops before cooking the meat as a precaution against the birds being infected by the coronavirus.

Or is it to be hoped that the month-long lockdown imposed by Government a few days ago will this time cause citizens and foreigners resident in this country to observe and jealously guard the sanctity of lives graciously given to humanity by the Almighty God, but being violated with impunity by some don’t-care-less people.

Only time will tell for sure.