Dilapidated Health Care Facilities Necessitated Hard Lockdown - ZANU PF Official

ZANU PF South Africa District spokesperson Kennedy Mandaza on Tuesday said a hard lockdown imposed by Zimbabwe’s government in response to a spike in coronavirus cases is a “drastic yet necessary intervention” to save lives.

Mandaza told African News Agency (ANA) that Zimbabwe’s dilapidated health system and dire economic situation could not cope with a surge in new infections. He said:

Given the state of the health-care facilities, and the economic challenges in Zimbabwe, coupled with the desire to curb the spread of the virus to save lives, the decision taken by the government, though drastic, was necessary due to the unprecedented spike in the reported number of new infections and deaths due to COVID-19.

Faced with the challenge that the government was experiencing, the government should be commended for taking that decision to save lives and reduce the spread of the COVID-19.

Mandaza, however, appealed to the Zimbabwean government to allow thousands of Zimbabweans who had travelled back home for the holidays to return to South Africa where millions live and work, mainly in the informal sector.

This comes after Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also health minister, announced the month-long restrictions on Saturday including an immediate 6 pm to 6 am curfew and a ban on inter-city travel.

This has made is almost impossible for people to travel across the breadth of the country to Beitbridge, Zimbabwe’s exit to South Africa.

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