“Taabho”
Yes, that was the message. That was the whole tweet by the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information.
As of the 24th of January Covid-19 has officially claimed 974 lives in Zimbabwe. Within a space of 24 days, this represents a major 164% jump from the 369 cases that were recorded from March to December 2020.
The whole country has been thrown into a frenzy. A few names from the high offices are included on the list, but there are a lot of less prominent members of the public who are succumbing to Covid-19 at a higher scale.
With limited financial ability and an emaciated health care system, the country is failing to contain the second wave of the pandemic.
This is inconsiderate of your financial status, your official ranking, your education or your intelligence, as long as you are human “chinokusvasvanga.”
Yes, measures such as the lockdown and curfews might help to reduce movement and risk of contact. However, it is empirical to invest in building the health system of the country that can only provide us with a better chance of beating this wave.
The government must take this time to focus their efforts and the economy towards fighting Covid-19. Essential infrastructure must be built to equip our local health facilities with the right apparatus to handle such volumes. Capacitation of the pharmaceutical industry is also vital for a smooth flow of pre-requisites in attending those affected.
In that process, the society must not be thrown into a quandary. Effective strategies should be put in place to cushion vulnerable people in society during the absolute lockdown as the one currently in place. With the rate of informal work in the country, surely a lot of social welfare is at stake.
On the other hand, vaccination has been a topical issue in the social circles but with less detail from the responsible authorities. Unfortunately, some social forces are already discouraging people from taking the vaccine and are a step ahead of the government.
Public awareness and assurance is one thing that the government and other stakeholders must be doing to build knowledge around vaccination. This is a building problem that will see resilience in the future.
Proper public finance management is premised upon a needs-based approach to prioritizing activities carried out by the government. The people want protection and proper health facilities, this should be the government’s priority as public servants.
This is no time for politicking and pushing swaying agendas that benefit one political force against another. This is a time for unity and a wholesome approach to finding solutions that will benefit the county.
It has been over a year since the beginning of this pandemic and the government was and is still not ready to deal with the current rate of Covid-19.
