THE Government remains concerned with the water challenges affecting Bulawayo in the wake of a rise in diarrhoeal disease cases.
The rise in the number of Covid-19 local transmissions and recurring diarrhoea outbreaks in the city of Bulawayo have emerged as a major concern for the government.
In light of the two health situations, the Director of Epidemiology and Disease Control in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Portia Manangazira, says the provision of potable water is critical in curbing the spread of the two diseases.
“The City of Bulawayo has recently seen an escalation in the rise of Covid-19 cases together with diarrhoea outbreak and the two go together because when there is water scarcity and water shortage all the preventive measures that we have been talking about then sort of fall of. The masks that we use have to be washed, so we continue to advocate for water sanitation improvements so that we see a decline in these infections.”
In July, 13 people died due to a diarrhoea outbreak in the high-density suburb of Luveve.
Government has since intervened in the provision of water in Bulawayo by drilling ten boreholes at Epping Forest.
Upon completion, the Epping Forest water project is expected to provide 10 megalitres of water per day, taking the combined output from Epping Forest and Rochester to 20 megalitres per day.
Bulawayo supply dams are at critically low levels due to drought, an issue that led to stringent water rationing in the city.
