EU injects additional €6,5m for COVID-19 fight

ZIMBABWE has received an additional €6,5 million (US$7,33 million) from the European Union to step up the fight against COVID-19 as the country continues to experience a surge in confirmed cases.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has hinted on reviewing the COVID-19 lockdown measures as confirmed cases and deaths rise.

Zimbabwe has recorded 982 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 18 deaths to date.

The majority of recent confirmed cases are from returning citizens, but local transmissions are on an upward trend.

In a statement on Saturday, the EU delegation to Zimbabwe said the €6,5 million COVID-19 support will contribute to the supply of essential commodities (personal protective equipment, diagnostic tests among others).

“Additionally, training of all frontline healthcare workers will be conducted as well as for community health workers on infection prevention and case management. As part of the preventive measures, the grant will assist in developing innovative communication tools to maintain a high level of alert in the country,” the EU delegation to Zimbabwe said.

EU ambassador to Zimbabwe Timo Olkkonen added: “A global health threat needs a global response with timely and coordinated measures and solidarity. In view of the current rising epicurve which shows daily new COVID-19 positive cases, this timely support is appropriate to improving ongoing activities, which are part of an urgent response to shared priorities.

“The EU will continue supporting the people of Zimbabwe, monitoring the work of our trusted partner Unicef (United Nations International Children’s Fund) to ensure the needs of the most vulnerable are met. We trust this will contribute to mitigate at medium terms, part of the triple crisis of socio-economic challenges, drought and COVID-19 that Zimbabwe is currently facing.”

In support to the country’s COVID-19 response plan, Health Development Fund (HDF) funding partners (DFID, Irish Aid, SIDA, GAVI, EU) had already contributed to the immediate response in order to reinforce the basic and critical health services at all levels of care as well as using flexible procedures to support the early national response in March/April 2020.

Since 2016, the EU has provided over €108,26 million (about US$122,23 million) to the HDF and is one of the biggest donors to the health sector.