Tanzania releases over US$27m education loans as colleges to reopen

DAR ES SALAAM — Tanzania’s Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB) announced on Thursday it has released education loans to the tune of 63,7 billion Tanzanian shillings (about US$27,5 million) following President John Magufuli’s announcement that universities will reopen on June 1.

A statement by HESLB said the released amount will be loaned to students for meals and accommodation for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Earlier on Thursday, President John Magufuli announced the reopening of universities on June 1 after what he described as a drop in COVID-19 infection cases.

Magufuli ordered the Education ministry and the Finance and Planning ministry to make preparations for the reopening of the universities,

CAPE TOWN — South Africa on Thursday reported 1 134 confirmed COVID-19 cases, the highest daily record since the country recorded its first case in early March.

With the newly-added cases, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa stood at 19 137, the highest on the African continent. “Regrettably, we report 30 more COVID-19 related deaths — this brings the total national deaths to 369,” Health minister Zweli Mkhize said in his daily update. The new deaths also broke the daily record since March 5 when the country's first infection was detected.

Nationwide, a total of 525,433 tests have been conducted to date, with 18,572 tests done in the past 24 hours, said Mkhize. The Western Cape province has 12 153 cases, the highest including the release of education loans.

HESLB said in the statement that the loans will be availed to beneficiaries in respective universities by May 28.

Meanwhile, said the statement, HESLB was in final touches of releasing education loans of 59,1 billion Tanzanian shillings for students in 70 higher education institutions in the country.

During the 2019-2020 academic year, the government will release higher education loans to the tune of 450 billion shillings to 132 119 students in universities, said the statement.

Prime minister Kassim Majaliwa announced the shutdown of universities on March 18 following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the east African nation.

— Xinhua among all the nine provinces, to be followed by Gauteng with 2 453. The Western Cape also reported a total of 235 deaths, comprising about two thirds of the national death toll.

According to Western Cape Governor Allan Winde, the transmission in the province has been concentrated around essential services clusters, care homes and the poorest communities in Cape Town. "We are on the upward part of the curve as per the nature of the pandemic and are expecting to see case numbers increase more rapidly, with associated increases in hospitalisation and deaths," Winde said. The province, he said, is scaling up isolation and quarantine off-site, but this will reach its limit soon as the number of infections rise in line with the ascending curve.

— Xinhua

CORONAVIRUS is now a barb in our vertebral column and the consequences are beyond our human understanding. Today, the world is burning with more than 320 000 people having succumbed to this unseen creature.

The United States tops the list of casualties followed by the United Kingdom, Italy, France. Disaster is striking in South America with Brazil being the worst hit. We ought to remain on our knees if the war against the pandemic is to be won.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) prescribed general remedies to curtail the spread of the virus which include lockdowns, social distancing, hand washing, quarantine, testing, contact tracing which have actually been of great importance in both mitigation and containment.

As of today, Zimbabwe prides itself with one of the lowest cases of COVID-19 in the world with only 46 cases having been confirmed.

However, our efforts can be in vain if the current situation in our country remains in such a state where there is high degree of complacency, defiance, ignorance and corruption.

Defiance is defined as open resistance or bold disobedience. Our government put measures to contain COVID-19, but to my surprise, so many people have shown great contumacy which naturally becomes a serious health hazard.

The kombis have been banned as of now and this seems to work in major towns only. I could not believe my eyes when I travelled along the Harare-Masvingo Highway when I realised that mushikashika (pirate taxis) are very active in small towns like Chivhu, Mvuma, Beatrice.

People were packed like sardines thus automatically defying the contemporary laws of the country. In as much as health officials would want to contain the virus, it would turn out to be futile one day if this defiance is allowed to prosper.

Mushikashika has also mushroomed in high-density suburbs like Glen Norah, Highfield, Kuwadzana. Why are people cheating death this way?

COVID-19 is real and can hit heavily. South Africa has recorded more than 17 000 cases.

Some bottle stores have clandestinely opened until late hours and the practice has been rampant in rural areas like Gokwe Masoro, Masvingo South, to mention but a few, where people are crowding daily to get a taste of their beers.

Masks have been deliberately ignored with some people getting fines from police officers for breaching sections of SI 83 of 2020. COVID-19 is not a joke. It can wipe many people.

Complacency seems to be deeprooted now. So many people are now in their self-imposed comfort zones and are very much sure that COVID-19 is now non-existent.

Social distancing has been neglected in many places in our country. High-density suburbs have witnessed crowds, some playing soccer matches while others are busy braaing, leaving one to wonder how they will manoeuvre in the event that they are hammered by the virus.

Some companies are not even putting sanitisers in offices or waiting areas, making it a serious health hazard. There is a widespread sense of safety which unfortunately is very incorrect.

Mbare Musika has opened and my conclusion was that it was business as usual. Social distancing is not being followed now. The law enforcement agents seem to have lost the zeal to foster the regulations. This will be calamitous in the near future.

COVID-19 has been changing epicentres from Wuhan province in China to Italy and soon Brazil will be an epicentre. If the outbreak is still on its way to Africa, then we are still in immense trouble as the real war is still ahead.

With our poor resources as Africans,

it should be prudent of us to keep the COVID-19 away from the start. Disaster will strike once it gets to our public hospitals.

In view of the above observations, it is my belief that the following measures can be adopted to help the nation contain the deadly virus:

Intensify health education especially among the rural populace as there is an astounding knowledge gap in many communities. Early signs and symptoms of COVID-19 should be known everywhere in our country

Personal protective equipment should be availed to all those that work with risky people. Hospitals and Clinics should have adequate supplies of these to reduce chances of contracting the virus. I noted even government facilities without adequate supplies of even face masks. Our district hospitals should be more serious as I write.

Law enforcement agents should be effective on roadblocks, towns and cities. Banned kombis and mushikashika are on the road with overcrowding. Harare-Masvingo Highway is grossly affected. Social distancing should thus be enforced if we are to remain on the safe side. Some markets have surreptitiously been opened against government directives. All these things should be stopped. Who said COVID-19 has evaporated away?

Corruption should be nabbed as we hear of some returnees buying their way out of quarantine centres. Why would the health of the nation be at risk by mere thirty pieces of silver? In Beitbridge, we heard 19 returnees escaped from the quarantine centre. Are we not playing with fire on such issues?

Government should intensify testing and contact tracing. We have noted a lot of local transmission at the moment. If the reproductive number for COVID-19 is between two to four, where are the other cases? Let us all be aggressive on contact tracing lest we may all perish one day.