LEAD Press Statement on the Corona Virus 29-01-2020
The Corona virus is a life threatening issue. Our health port entry at Robert Mugabe international airport is not the best. The staff there don’t have proper protective clothing which fully covers them. They need proper masks not the ones used for clean up operations.
We need a quarantine unit within the airport to assist in screening. There is also need to quarantine who ever has travelled from that region. The UK has actually set up a quarantine facility at airports were they are putting suspected cases for about 10-14days which is the incubation period of the virus.
I have gathered that there are no longer any people coming from the epi center as China has already instituted massive state wide quarantine. Reports state that there are 22 people already in Zimbabwe who are under medical surveillance.
So people are just following them up and waiting to intervene if they develop symptoms. We know that this type of virus often spreads before symptoms develop so that’s a potential gap. There is need for precautionary measures to be in place to save lives. Considering the prevailing woes in the health sector, Zimbabwean citizens might be exposed to infection if improper screening is done. Proper control measures should be activated at all points of entry.
Just next door in South Africa, “Port health professionals routinely conduct temperature screening for all international travellers. Fortunately, OR Tambo International Airport is the only port of entry for all flights from Asia.” The department says all provinces have activated outbreak response teams and are on high alert to detect and manage cases that may arrive in the country.
During the Ebola outbreak, the health Ministry in Zimbabwe was not prepared all they had was a thermometer! All they did was take temperature but the area multitude of other conditions that are present with increased temperature. At the same time ebola may also be present without a raised temperature. The same goes for coronavirua So what is Governments plan on how doctor’s are going to make a definitive diagnosis considering it’s just a flu at the end of the day i.e. are the proper genetic test kits that are required to identify the particular sub type 2019-nCoV available? There may not be available at our national reference lab?
Dr Obadiah Moyo himself admits that our systems are not geared for the task at hand. Right now our hospitals are working at about 30 % capacity. Our health systems our weak and surely any progressive person who cares about the livelihoods of Zimbabweans should be pushing our government to ensure preparedness in dealing with this deadly Corona virus.
What *new* measures has the Health Ministry instituted? The country’s ports of entry host a huge influx of Chinese nationals and hundreds of Zimbabwean students studying in China, many of whom have come for holidays. Having a health port service at Robert Mugabe airport alone is not sufficient as other travellers might come via Zambia or any other country by road. All ports of entry should have health measures in place of screening people coming into Zimbabwe.
If a disease like this breaks out we doomed.
On the other hand we need to do a risk assessment for this particular outbreak.
There are suspected cases of Corona virus in Zambia, Kenya and Ethiopia have been reported in Africa.
The Ministry of Information and publicity should ensure that information of the deadly virus has reached all corners of the country and that all provinces health institutions are prepared to deal with the deadly virus.
Our concern as LEAD emanates from the Health Ministry’s history of indicating right and always turning left. There is no confidence in the ministry which has always been reactionary to outbreaks yet they always assure the nation that everything is under control. We are going to be doing checks and balances on the Health Ministry to ensure that quality healthcare has been restored in Zimbabwe.
#TogetherWeCan save lives.
Linda Tsungirirai Masarira
LEAD President
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