Covid-19 lockdown; Zimbabwe still on day one

A SAFETY equipment production firm has warned that Zimbabwe risks slipping into a far worse health and economic crisis than previously projected unless the majority of the population abandon the ‘denial’ mood that could fuel the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mike Chiurunga, the operations director at Safety Signs Zimbabwe

Mike Chiurunga, the operations director at Safety Signs Zimbabwe said judging by the behaviour on most Zimbabweans his firm had observed across shopping malls in Harare, that the country could still be on ‘Day One’ of its 28-day lockdown.

He warned that if Zimbabweans fail to adhere to health guidelines set by the World Health Organisation and government, the impact of the pandemic would be more painful to both the economy and human life.

Chiurunga said with global economies grounded by the contagion of the pandemic that started in China last year, and Zimbabwe’s frail economy staring a crisis, citizens must not wait for government to deploy security forces to observe what health experts have advised.

“Six weeks into the national lockdown, very little has changed in public health behaviour,” Chiurunga said in a statement.

“If what we observe at shopping malls and residential areas is anything to go by, then the majority is still in denial.

“For as long as the general populous still needs government to deploy police and army just to enforce simple health practice as social distancing, then we have spent six weeks on Day One and far from paddocking Covid-19”, he added.

“We have observed that Covid-19 is like inflation. Once it gets into the three-digit syndrome, it is difficult to contain. The same people we see at the shopping malls and supermarkets are Zimbabwe’s workface. If their mindset has not changed to self-manage and practice social distancing and washing of hands at home level, it will be too ambitious and dangerous to assume they will change when the lockdown is lifted and are back at work,” he noted.

“Government does not have reason to brutally punish its people. Consequences of lockdown extensions are therefore collectively self-inflicted. A self-propagating anti-Covid19 practice will save government resources and lead to businesses re-opening in the shortest possible time thereby minimising consequential losses such as job losses,” he said.

The Covid-19 pandemic had infected 40 people in Zimbabwe by Friday last week, with three death.