THERE have been widespread concerns over the country’s capacity to deal with the virulent coronavirus (COVID-19), which is rapidly spreading across the world after it was first detected in the Wuhan province of China, where it has already wiped out nearly 3 000 people and affected another 78 000-plus in China and other parts of the world.
Other countries, including the United States, have already rolled out mechanisms in anticipation of the spread of the disease so that it can be contained before causing extensive damage.
Stakeholders in Zimbabwe — which is dealing with massive incapacitation in health institutions and an ailing health delivery system — have expressed concern at the lackadaisical approach they say have been taken by the authorities.
Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals spokesperson Lenos Dhire on Thursday said they had identified some gaps in the manner in which COVID-19 was being handled in Zimbabwe and there was need to quickly close them for effective handling of the outbreak.
These included disinfecting the casualty department, expediting the provision of protective clothing for staff, improvement in communication in the rapid response team, setting up a screening test and immediately referring all infectious disease cases to Wilkins Hospital.
Such measures, he said, would help “minimise the potential mix of suspected patients with staff members and other patients”.
Such measures needed to be put in place in nearly all health institutions across the country, although this would be a taxing exercise given the economic challenges the country is currently grappling with.
Although Zimbabwe Medical Association (Zima) Mashonaland provincial chairperson Edward Chagonda this week told the Parliamentary Thematic Committee on Peace and Security that epidemiology and disease surveillance in the country was being handled “well”, another doctor, Stanford Chigumira, expressed concern over the health sector’s capacity to deal with a disease of such magnitude.
Chigumira said Zimbabwe was lucky that there had not been a single case of the coronavirus, because it would likely decimate the country.
