The Sunday Mail
Kuda Bwititi
Chief Reporter
THE Inter-Ministerial Taskforce on Covid-19 is expected to meet today to deliberate on whether the 21-day national lockdown will be lifted or extended, ahead of the expiry of the restrictions at midnight.
Afterwards, President Mnangagwa is expected announce the next course of action.
The lockdown, which imposes limits on human movement and outdoor activities, was imposed on March 30 to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
In Zimbabwe, the disease has killed three people while 24 others have been infected with the virus.
In making the decision to lift or extend the lockdown, authorities are expected to factor in suggestions from assessments made in all the country’s 10 provinces on the nationwide capacity to combat the virus.
Yesterday, Vice Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi travelled to Mashonaland Central and Matabeleland North respectively as part of the continued assessment on the action plan to combat the virus.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa yesterday told The Sunday Mail that the announcement on the next course of action will be made today.
“As you are aware, it was the President who made the announcement when the lockdown was announced. As the chair of the Cabinet taskforce, we will seek direction from him on the next course of action and it will be announced after the taskforce meeting which will be held tomorrow (today),” she said.
During the past three weeks, Zimbabweans have by and large complied with the directive to limit movements and stay at home, although cases of defiance have also been recorded.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi encouraged members of the public to comply with any position taken by the authorities.
“We will be guided by what the authorities say and enforce the measures accordingly. We encourage people to take heed of Government’s directives so that they do not encounter problems with law enforcement,” he said.
Asst Comm Nyathi said as of yesterday, 8 673 people had been arrested for defying the lockdown.
“Bulawayo had the most number of people at 1 887, while Manicaland had 1 724. In Harare 1 081 people were arrested while the figure was 1 217 for the Midlands. Other provinces recorded less than 1 000 arrests,” he said.
Last week, World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus gave recommendations on countries that have imposed lockdowns, saying restrictions imposed to control the spread of Covid-19 should be lifted only if health systems have abilities to test, isolate, treat and trace every contact.
Dr Ghebreyesus also said countries should lift the restrictions if the transmission of the virus is controlled and ensure that outbreak risks are minimal in specialised settings such as nursing homes and health institutions.
“Some countries and communities have now endured several weeks of social and economic restrictions. Some countries are considering when they can lift these restrictions. Others are considering when to introduce them.
“On both cases, these decisions must be based on protecting human health and be guided by what we know about the virus and how it behaves. We are all learning all the time and adjusting our strategy based on the latest available evidence,” said Dr Ghebreyesus.”
There have been mixed feelings on whether the lockdown should be extended or lifted.
Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Zimbabwe chief executive Mr Farai Mutambanengwe proposed a partial lifting of the lockdown.
“It cannot be continued in its current form. Informal workers, who are majority of our population, are not able to earn money,” he said.
Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights chair Dr Fortune Nyamande told our sister paper The Herald that he advocated for the extension of the lockdown during which a massive screening and testing programme should be undertaken.
Government has already ramped up testing and is now conducting more than 1,000 tests a day after opening testing centres in all 10 provinces.
