Coronavirus: Zimbabwe govt extends curfew amid increase in cases

18 Août 2020

Harare, Zimbabwe, August 18 (Infosplusgabon) - The Zimbabwe government has extended curfew to 2000 hours and increased working hours as part of several changes to reduce the rise in coronavirus cases in the southern African nation.

In the build up to the planned nationwide protests scheduled for July 31, government issued a curfew starting at 1800 hours and cut business times to 1500 hours from 1630 hours in what it says was to stop the spread of COVID-19.

However, following a cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening, government has reviewed some of these measures due to the increase in infections which stood at 5,308 positive COVID-19 cases, 3,848 recoveries and 135 deaths as of Monday evening.

"Having noted the plight of the public and the need to lessen the risk of contracting COVID-19, Cabinet directed as follows: (a) that the business hours which were ending at 1500 hours be revisited to end at 1630 hours and the curfew to be extended to 2000 hours," read a part of a statement from cabinet meetings held on Tuesday evening.

"(B) that Public transport drivers undergo regular COVID-19 PCR tests and (c) that public transport buses be allowed a dedicated lane at roadblocks to expedite their passage."

Cabinet has further directed that immigrants who are PCR negative on arrival will no longer be detained but be put on home quarantine and reviews will be conducted by the rapid response teams in that locality.

But, those immigrants who do test positive on arrival from outside the country will be placed in isolation centres.

"Cabinet assures members of the public that measures are being put in place to ensure that health workers return to work, as the success of implementing the COVID-19 response is hinges on the availability of health staff.

"Acquisition of Protective Personal Equipment (PPE) for health workers and front liners is being prioritized," reads part of a Tuesday cabinet statement.

"Regarding Primary and Secondary Education, Cabinet notes that the sector is continuing with its preparations for the re-opening of schools for final examination classes. The developed and approved guidelines that were put in place for the June 2020 examinations will be used for the holding of  the final examinations in November/December."

It was further agreed by cabinet that Zimbabwe required a more robust COVID-19 testing regime as the cumulative rapid screening and PCR tests conducted as of yesterday are 183,163.

In this regard, cabinet directed that the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education Innovation Science and Technology Development, through the National University of Science and Technology, works on the production of PCR Primers and Viral Transport media used in testing for COVID-19.

"In order to strengthen the National COVID-19 response, the following measures will be taken (a) a Technical Steering Committee with experts from all the sectors involved in the response will henceforth be constituted and have clearly defined terms of reference; (b) the COVID-19 response is to be merged into a single response plan comprising the Command Centre, Office of the COVID-19 Chief Coordinator and Ministry of Health and Child Care." read part of the statement.

Meanwhile, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga presented to cabinet his plans to restructure the Health and Child Care Ministry as the government department's recently appointed new boss.

These changes involve the introduction of four pillars in the health delivery system, namely:

"Pharmaceuticals and Biopharmaceuticals product manufacturing; Biomedical Engineering, targeting the manufacturing of ventilators, hospital beds and other essential equipment; Biomedical Science and Laboratory Science, incorporating research on pathogens and the manufacturing of consumables such as reagents; and Public Health Strategy and Guidelines Formulation. The revamping of the Health System is expected to result in robust medical services."

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/MKJ/GABON2020

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