After the Christmas holidays, Zimbabwe saw an increase in Covid-19 infections and deaths, raising fears of an already fragile health system.
The government has asked citizens to adhere to the blockade, which includes traffic restrictions on all but the most essential services.
The reopening of schools has been postponed indefinitely, following a Covid-19 outbreak in schools in the last term, while the shops will be open only until 15:00 daily.
A sunset setting is also provided to avoid meetings and nightly events.
The hosts of a New Year’s Eve dance concert that violated a previous ban on gatherings of more than 100 people were jailed on Monday by a Zimbabwean court for six months.
Zimbabwe’s Human Rights Doctors Association (ZADHR) says hospitals in the country are unable to cope with increased demand for admission in a new report released on Wednesday.
“ZADHR notes with concern the limited capacity of local health units to adapt to cases that require treatment. The continued growth of new infections has made hospitals overwhelmed and unsatisfied with the high number of hospitalizations related to COVID-19,” he said. said the body.
The organization is also concerned about an increase in infections among front-line workers. Nearly 1,000 front-line workers have been infected with Covid-19 in Zimbabwe due to a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), doctors say.
“Our conservative estimates indicate that more than 1,000 health care workers are infected with COVID-19.
Medical associations continued to highlight the worrying trends of health care workers working without adequate PPE, “ZADHR said.
Doctors have also sounded the alarm about the limited ability to cope with critically ill patients in need of intensive care, while admission beds remain low.
“ZADHR condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the sad situation of the limited limited capacity for intensive care, almost ten months after the detection of the first COVID-19 case,” the doctors said.
However, Zimbabwe’s intelligence secretary Nick Mangwana told CNN that the government was “at the forefront”.
“At the moment, our capacity is not extended. However, we are dealing with a fluid situation in which, if a front-line worker is positive, it affects capacity.”
“The reason I said this could overwhelm us is that people are not following the rules of the blockade, so we saw the storm coming,” Mangwana said.
Last year, doctors in Zimbabwe took the government to court for failing to provide personal protective equipment and other safety equipment.
Zimbabwe’s health care system has been hit hard by a lack of funding, with health workers struggling with the government over poor and often unpaid wages.
Last year’s billionaire Strive Masiyiwa intervened to get doctors back to work after a few months of trading horses with the authorities.