The festive season and the coronavirus scourge
OVER the past couple of months, Bulawayo has recorded a surge in coronavirus (Covid-19) cases, a development that has seen the city having the highest number of active cases, positioning itself and the other two Matabeleland provinces as hotspots of this global pandemic in Zimbabwe.
Further, there has been an increase in the number of people disregarding Covid-19 lockdown measures set by the Government, with police involved in cat and mouse games with nightclub and bottle stores owners that operate against set regulations.
Some people have even resorted to hosting house parties while others have also turned to shebeens, where people have a happy-lucky-go approach and where they throw all caution to the wind in terms of Covid-19 preventative measures. They do not wear masks, they are found in large crowds, they no longer observe social distancing and even share bottles.
The reopening of schools has also seen more cases being reported, with the initial case being recorded in Matabeleland North’s John Tallach High School, where over 180 cases were reported.
With the country last Tuesday reopening its borders to the public and growing concerns on the rising figures, Sunday News senior reporter, Vusumuzi Dube (VD) spoke to Mpilo Central Hospital acting chief executive officer, Professor Solwayo Ngwenya to get his views on the rising Covid-19 cases and what should be done to contain the spread.
Prof Ngwenya has been vocal on the need for the nation to change its attitude towards the pandemic noting that there was a risk of mass infections and mass deaths if people continued with their lackadaisical approach.
VD: Over the past couple of months there has been a sharp rise of Covid-19 active cases in Bulawayo, could this be the second wave and, in your view, what could be the root cause of this rise?
Prof Ngwenya: People seem to be confused; I honestly do not know what is confusing them. Coronavirus was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation ( WHO) in December 2019, after seeing how deadly the virus is and how bad such a similar virus — the Spanish flue of 1918 was.
A global pandemic is a serious health emergency, but for some reason we don’t seem to be in any emergency mode as the society or as individuals.
We are already on the second wave of the virus, the first wave was contained through strict lockdown measures, after that people relaxed and now the virus is coming back with even more power than the first wave.
The root cause of this second wave, particularly in Bulawayo, is that society relaxed and when they relax that is what a virus does. It’s therefore the community, which we have been warning about this attitude who we can blame. People no longer wear masks and they still find themselves in crowded places, they go to enclosed places like bars, parties, weddings, churches and funeral wakes.
These are the areas that have contributed to this rise. Bulawayo is also connected culturally and societally to the neighbouring South Africa, I therefore suspect there are some areas where people were receiving goods and illegally crossing to and from that country, which could have contributed to the virus’ insurgence in Bulawayo. It’s a similar scenario as the Spanish flu virus in 1918, where the virus was detected in South Africa and spread up north into our country.
It’s worrying because in Bulawayo we are so relaxed, people have been throwing parties, not following curfew regulations, the masks are worn incorrectly with the nose sticking out, they do whatever they want as if there is no virus at all.
People think that since they dealt with the first wave, they now have the experience to handle this insurgent second wave, unfortunately this time around the virus is different.
VD: As a city and the nation at large what can be done to address this rise of infections?
Prof Ngwenya: As the nation at large, I think we are faring very badly and the virus is gaining strength and we may not be able to control it unless drastic measures are put in place. However, from the national level there seems to be lack of recognition that this is a medical emergency.
VD: Borders reopened for the public on 1 December, what could be the implications of this in the figures in the region to be precise and as we approach the festive season? What can we expect relating to this pandemic?
Prof Ngwenya: The reopening
of borders, in my opinion is pouring fuel into a raging fire. South Africa is recording in the region of 4 000 new infections a day and this virus will obviously sweep northwards. Therefore, with our relatives who are working in South Africa coming to Zimbabwe for the festive season, we will obviously have the figures skyrocketing.
This festive season is going to be a festive season of pandemic proportion, there is going to be a lot of infections, a lot of deaths, so they probably won’t be any festivities this year. The future is honestly bleak for us if we do not take any action.
VD: In your view what should be done as we try to contain this pandemic?
Prof Ngwenya: In my view as a medical expert, the current figures that are rising are just a tip of the iceberg as we are only testing a few people. The virus is much worse in the community, worse than the figures we are recording because we are only testing a fraction of the population.
Further just look at the figures, during the first wave the recovery rate was said to be in the region of 95 percent now its plummeting to around 80 percent, the positivity rate is also rising. These are ominous signs that this virus is not a joke now, this virus will kill us if we are not careful.
What I think should be done to contain this pandemic, firstly here in Zimbabwe there are very few people who understand what a pandemic means, a pandemic is a serious global medical emergency.
A pandemic can be controlled by widespread testing, wide spreading tracing of contacts, quarantine people and obvious vaccinations once you have a vaccine.
At the moment we don’t have vaccines and those that are being developed can take long to get here and they will be obviously very expensive.
We are therefore just left with testing, tracing and quarantine. If we are not able to quarantine everyone there is the option of a mass quarantine, which we refer to as a lockdown, which some people do not like.
However, if we mass quarantine, it means we are slowing down the rate of infection, prevent the health services from being overwhelmed and also prevent deaths. In Zimbabwe without a lockdown, this virus is going to spread. This is not a joke, a pandemic is a serious global medical emergency, if we can get that right then therefore you will understand what the nation needs to do. If there are no urgent steps taken and the virus is left loose, with this population that doesn’t want to listen or follow any rules I can tell you that we should brace ourselves for mass infections and mass deaths.
This is not a matter of months we are weeks and even days away from this catastrophe.
VD: Thank you Prof.