Zimbabwe and COVID-19: A story of hope in the midst of hopelessness
COVID-19, commonly referred to as the Coronavirus, has wreaked havoc the world over. Currently, etching close to a million confirmed cases with over 42 000 deaths globally in just a span of 4 months, this disease has become the greatest pandemic of our time. Now that the virus has reached Zimbabwe, a lot of people fear if not properly handled, the effects of this pandemic might be catastrophic to our beautiful nation.
With a crumbling health care system characterized by poorly equipped health facilities, a disgruntled unpaid workforce and a doctor to patient ratio of 1: 250 000 patients, Zimbabwe is easily one of the most at-risk countries to this pandemic. Cognisant of this, the President has called for a 21-day lockdown to try and slow the spread of the virus in a bid to give the Government time to better prepare. While lockdowns have proven effective in flattening the curve, a lot of experts have rightfully stated that lockdowns are not a full-blown solution but rather just buying time for better measures such as improving medical facilities, public sanitization, contact tracing and educating the populace.
Having conducted less than 400 cases, with 9 confirmed cases including the death of a young Zororo Makamba(may his soul rest in peace), and concern that the government is suppressing cases, Zimbabwe’s management of the disease has been absolutely shambolic. Incompetence and Corruption remain the top 2 barriers in coming up with a solution to the pandemic. Incompetence in the failing to equip our hospitals, doctors have complained about the lack of PPEs, test kits and ventilators yet little has been done to avail these. Corruption in the procurement of the equipment and furthermore in the distribution of aid, I could go further in exposing this but I will wait for the Zanu youth to hold another press conference.
Furthermore, while western countries can easily implement social distancing, it remains a privilege that many families in Zimbabwe can not afford. Many live in shared accommodations having 2–4 families in a 2 bedroom house, with limited or no access to clean running water. Most families, those of street vendors, kombi drivers, conductors, makorokoza, and others in the informal sector, survive on daily wages and the lockdown will not be as kind to their livelihoods. In this regards Finance Minister Mthuli has proposed a 200 ZWL million package to cushion 900, 000 vulnerable households. Even if we ignore that 900,000 is too small of a figure for the safety net, at ZWL 200 million, this package translates to just $222 per family, which even at the modest interbank rate is less than 10 USD per family per month.
Looking at all these facts, it is easy to lose hope and think that COVID-19 will be the end of a country already in tatters. The future looks bleak, the government doesn’t seem like its doing enough, some businesses which have had to close might not recover, a cure/ vaccine for the virus is still months away and the media is always full of bad news. Is there anything positive happening in the fight against Corona? , the answer is yes and below I list the ways in which hardworking citizens are pulling together to solve the current crisis.
Ventilators
Just last week Zimbabwe experienced its first COVID-19 death, and shortly after we came to the startling revelation that the Country has less than 20 ventilators with Wilkins the centre designated to treat the disease having none. This quickly caused a panic as cost a ventilator is not luxury a majority of Zimbabwean( even the affluent Makamba family) can afford. In this regard, a lot of organizations with technical expertise have started working on designing and producing low-cost ventilators that can be used in our public hospitals. HIT last week produced a prototype and says once components are procured they have a capacity of producing 40 machines per day.
NUST is also undergoing the design of a similar prototype. Furthermore, a collective is known as Kufema Zimbabwe, now compromising of more than 300 volunteers of various backgrounds in medicine and engineering, have taken up the call. The group to date has raised more than £11000 for sourcing of materials and components and are now at advanced stages in producing a prototype.
Personal Protective Equipment(PPE’s)
After news of the first few cases was announced, Zimbabweans woke up to the startling news that the doctors and nurses had gone on strike due to lack of PPEs. However, following the donation of 10 000 PPEs from Jack Ma and the Alibaba Group (along with other equipment and test kits), the situation has since returned to normalcy. Local universities have also rallied to the cause and started producing masks and sanitizers to aid in the fight. Local companies are also jumping into the ring, with companies like Third Axis using 3D printing technologies to develop PPE prototypes and bigger corporates like the Econet group donating PPEs to be used in government’s efforts. Citizen’s Initiative, which did a lot of work during Cyclone Idai and the doctor’s strike last year, has again risen to the challenge and has so far raised 28,000 USD to be used in procuring PPEs and other essentials for medical staff.
Other notable efforts
Citizens and corporates are also teaming up to fight other side effects of the lockdown which will see the countries’ vulnerable being largely disadvantaged. Miracle Missions in partnership with Spar and Mr Brands are helping to collect care pack comprising of food and cleaning products for vulnerable families during the lockdown. Care packs will include stuff like mealie meal, sugar, tinned foods, porridge, soaps, hand sanitizers and tissues and will ensure that struggling families can make it past this tough period.
As the lockdown restricts movement among citizens, a lot of companies have also started offering free food & pharmaceutical deliveries to pensioners, these include GAIN, Sputnik Enterprises, Brookfields Farm Store and AMP meats. Our favourite startup, Fresh In a Box, even went the extra to offer free and priority delivery for pensioners.
Another pertinent issue in the fight against COVID-19 is the availability of clean and running water. Government has promised to start drilling more boreholes during the lockdown, which is something they should not have waited to do till a crisis occurred. Luckily citizens are also aiding in this regard, with the Community Water Alliance setting up water points starting in Budiriro and Glen View. Hopefully, other corporates such as CassavaSmartech’s Clean Water will also join in this noble initiative.
The EatOut Movement, an initiative meant to fight social inequalities, is working with the Social Welfare Ministry to try and provide housing and food for the homeless during the 21-day lockdown. They are currently establishing camps in Domboshava and Ruwa. Also, in recognition of the immense contribution by doctors, several fuels station have started offering priority fuel for Doctors and other medical professions.
In all this, it is clear to see that while we may have our problems as a Country, the Zimbabwean spirit is strong and vibrant and can survive anything. We have survived droughts, hyperinflationary environments(more than once), cyclones and way much more, but still, we are not broken and we will soldier on even after the Coronavirus is gone.
Since the dawn of time, the human race has suffered tremendous threats to its existence. From poisonous mushrooms to homicidal maniacs, from world wars to HIV/AIDS, from global warming to droughts and starvation. Yet the human race has risen above all its adversaries and now stands at the peak of its population in history not only surviving but thriving and dominating its environment. No one knows what the coronavirus has in store for us. But one thing is for sure, come what may, we will still be standing. — T. Murambi 2020
Do you know of any initiates helping to fight COVID-19 in Zimbabwe, let’s share them and spread hope using the hashtag #FightingCovidZW, I’ll be sharing them in more articles to come!
