Lockdown debate should not be politicised

Dear Editor,

THE debate around the effects of the Covid-19 debate should not be politicised because important issues may be sacrificed at the altar of political expediency.

This pandemic has gripped the entire world with a ferocity never witnessed before. Even the most advanced countries in the world have grappled with the complexity of managing the disease.

It is folly that such politicians as Hakainde Hichilema and of all people Fred M’membe should try to make political capital discussing the pandemic in a manner that suggests political failure instead of concentrating on the technical details provided by experts.

These two are people with unresolved public issues and should not offer themselves as solutions. Indeed lockdown is a good measure, but what happens to our mothers, sisters and other housegold heads who live hand to mouth who cannot affort to sustain themselves if they do not sell. Will the Government afford to give every household food?

Already Government has to provide for flood and drought victims, will the resources accommodate more urban-based lockdown victims?

Nobody has a solution, as yet, not even the most powerful President in the world Donald Trump has come up with a solution, he has been forced to go forward and backpedal several times because the situation is fluid and keeps on changing.

If anything all jurisdictions have fashioned responses appropriate to their needs. While the USA has gone the full lockdown way, Sweden has made no effort of locking down believing that such an eventuality would harm the economy.

In Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni has ordered a complete shut down of malls, public and private transport, while in South Africa public transport continues to operate and shops, especially those selling food have been allowed to operate leading to queues and congestion which defy the social distancing principle.

Next door in Zimbabwe a lock down has been implemented while we are implementing a selective lockdown.

Whether this will serve our needs or not can only be assessed at the end of another two months when the current infection will have run its course. This is the case with the more advanced countries which are projecting major fatalities at the apex of the infection rate considering that incubation is anything between two to three weeks. The rolling infection will run its course over several cycles unless a cure or vaccine is found. That is why it is laughable that the HH and the Prison authorities are advocating the release of prisoners on account of the pandemic. The convicts are better off in prison where they are sheltered than outside where the pandemic still must run its course.

We must confront this menace as a nation and expect to learn from experts who must guide and give direction, they could very well mislead us, but that is better than the political noise that is being generated by politicians who have no class experience in matter medical. SAMSON MWENDAPOLE.