Chronicle Editor
Stephen Mpofu
The coronavirus which has left the entire globe teetering, nay reeling under a pandemic did not just happen in Zimbabwe from the air.
Someone or some people, local or foreign, must have lit the veld fire and our country was too lackadaisical with fire guards to thwart a conflagration with the Government introducing more counter measures this week, among them a dusk to dawn curfew which clearly shows that the country is at war with both the coronavirus and its own people for their apparent laissez-faire attitude towards the Covid-19 pandemic.
As of yesterday, the country had recorded 2 124 cases, a jump from 985 the previous week.
Former Cabinet Minister and current Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration, Dr Obert Mpofu, could not have said it more succinctly from his self-quarantine — just in case — after attending a global conference in Tanzania recently that he observed that there was laxity in some Sadc countries and also countries outside the region in their handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But what he did not say, however, was that there was also laxity on the part of our own country in taking measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus from infected countries with which we share porous borders.
This columnist and reporters from this newspaper have published several reports about Zimbabweans from the neighbouring countries in point jumping borders and bribing their way back home but with no immediate action being taken by authorities to seal the porous borders.
It is obvious that infected returnees spread the virus in their villages or in urban areas to which they proceeded, hence the sudden, sharp surge in coronavirus infections in the country.
A retired veteran journalist, author, farmer and political activist in his own right, Mr Jonathan Maphenduka, added something quite intriguing to the problem of laxity that has served as coronavirus’ gateway into the country, when he also noted this week that some Zimbabweans apparently believed, and openly spoke about black people being immune to coronavirus infections.
It is common sense that the gullible among such people and those that they influence lower their guard and become susceptible to infection by the virus, in the process rendering ineffective Government measures against the killer Covid-19.
Mr Maphenduka said that with no decrease or end of the coronavirus in sight, Zimbabweans should strictly adhere to measures introduced by the Government to curb the spread of the virus and in the process also save lives.
He cited a case in which one institution of higher learning reportedly “sent coronavirus infected students back home”, instead of immediately having them quarantined to protect those they might get into contact with.
The worsening rate of coronavirus infection should persuade or better still compel employers to have their workers periodically tested for the virus at workplaces by health experts as a way of safeguarding productivity.
The Government might wish to consider sending health experts accompanied by members of the security forces to comb villages for returnees from the diaspora who might be hiding there, protected by relatives or by traditional leaders, instead of going to health centres or quarantine centres for medical attention, with those who hide or shield them made to face the wrath of the law, or stripped of their traditional leadership positions in the case of chiefs or headmen as punishment for not safeguarding the lives of those under their jurisdiction.
Quarantine or isolation centres should become high security places with no inmates absconding the way they have been doing so far to infect other people and in that way aggravate the pandemic.
Equally important, Zimbabweans should realise that the coronavirus does not discriminate between members of ruling political parties for attack while leaving members of the opposition unscathed. No, the virus attacks everyone it comes into contact with, either black, white, poor or rich, powerful or weak, child or adult, man or woman — every human being — and so those Zimbabweans intent on organising demonstrations against Zanu-PF and in the process disrupting protective measures against the spread of the virus should realise that their own lives are also imperilled by any spread of Covid-19 so that their power hunger might turn out to be a process in self-immolation.
Online Reporter