By Princess of Harare, Princess Eugene Majuru.
Harare, Zimbabwe. (News of The South) As the Coronavirus epidemic continues to claim lives around the world it is evident many have not heeded to the call for social distancing.
I note with great concern how Zimbabwean Journalists working in Zimbabwe continue to put their lives and other people’s lives in danger by failing to maintain social distancing as per World Health Organisation guidelines. Zimbabwe entered 2nd day of the 21 day lockdown on Wednesday and from video footage at the Supreme court where the case between Nelson Chamisa and Thokozani Khupe was heard, Journalists were standing next to each other during a press conference with lawyer Madhuku. Most didn’t have masks and they asked their questions without maintaining social distancing. One wonders where they are washing their hands or using sanitisers at all. One wonders why the Zimbabwe supreme court failed to cancel the hearing, it would only make sense to continue with court cases if they were life threatening. Hopefully Zimbabwe supreme court will postpone all court cases during this uncertain time. It’s for the safety of everyone, that’s the most sensible thing to do especially because many are yet to follow safety guidelines. See video below where Journalists are standing next to each other with their cameras and mobile phones.
https://youtu.be/FNwzVs_U9A4
With all the publicity in international media surely Zimbabwean Journalists should be up to date with Coronavirus news. They should be helping to get the word out and encourage social distancing, hand washing and use of sanitisers. It is good to see how most Zimbabweans stayed at home even from the first day of the lockdown where streets in Harare were almost empty save for one or two people walking on the streets.
Families in Zimbabwe live in large numbers especially in underprivileged areas like Mbare, Epworth, Mufakose, Highfields, Mabvuku to name a few. Should one person catch Coronavirus the disease would spread like veldfire due to overcrowding. It is only the people who can slow down or stop the spread of infections. Journalists can play their part and lead by example since they are in the public eye especially for Tuesday’s court session where the whole nation was flowing the news on all media.
Video footage from the streets showed people walking in groups of four or three in very close proximity thus increasing the risk of infection. A few leaders in Zimbabwe have started maintaing social distancing but others forget but am sure with more information people will begin to follow guidelines for safety. In the next couple of days it is very possible that Zimbabweans will be maintaing social distancing and Journalists need to be more cautious. Media houses sending Journalists out on the frontline to cover news should also be responsible and give the Journalists protective clothing and ensure they are equipped with the correct information on Coronavirus infection prevention.
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