The Sunday Mail
Bulawayo Bureau
VP Mohadi is satisfied with the Covid-19 preparedness in Matabeleland North, although some few changes needed to be done.
“I have been checking on the preparedness of the province and also to conscientise people on the disease and that they also need to go for testing. We want to test as many people as possible so that we are sure that Zimbabweans are free of this virus. People seem to have been taking it easy as if it’s any other day, so we want to change that,” he said.
VP Mohadi toured Lupane State University hostels which have been set aside as a quarantine centre and St Luke’s Hospital which would serve as an isolation centre.
“Well, the facilities are there but they need quite a lot of sprucing up, especially the one at St Luke’s Hospital,” he said.
“The isolation centre is between residential areas and the hospital is a small distance away from the line of demarcation with residential homes. We need to do something in that regard.
“We need to ensure there is real isolation. It should not be isolation in terms of the work only but it must be seen that the people are isolated. We cannot transport a person from Jambezi all the way to Bulawayo to be isolated. So, the centres that are here in Matabeleland North will serve to assist the people.”
VP Mohadi said President Mnangagwa would make an announcement on the lockdown today.
“The lockdown was not a pleasant decision but we could not wait and see our people dying when there was an option. We put the protection of people’s lives first. We could not wait for people to die because they want to sell their wares,” said VP Mohadi.
“They just had to stop selling their wares and doing their business while the situation is controlled.”
Meanwhile, Matabeleland South has identified isolation centres within its seven districts which would handle Covid-19 cases. The province has not yet recorded any case of the virus.
In Insiza, Pangani Training Centre, Mbodo Clinic, Shangani Mine Hall and Filabusi District Hospital have been identified as isolation centres, while in Umzingwane, Esigodini District Hospital and Esikhoveni Training Institute are ready to cater for Covid-19 cases.
Yesterday, during a tour of Insiza and Umzingwane districts’ identified isolation centres, Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu, who is in charge of Matabeleland South Province under the Inter-Ministerial Taskforce on Covid-19, said centres for other districts would be disclosed once they are assessed.
Minister Ndlovu said there was a need for the community to be educated on self-isolation at homes. He also urged the security forces to ensure that the amacimbi (mopane worms) harvesters and illegal miners also follow the lockdown regulations.
