By Joel Mandaza
Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 journey has been a classic case of papering over cracks with remarkable ominous consistency.
Those who subscribe to Einstein wisdom know the term used to describe those who do the same thing expecting different results, the antonym of wisdom.
Zimbabwe reeling under the second Covid-19 wave, a simple scroll through social media projects a desperate image.
People have been pleading for places that admit Covid-19 patients to no avail, the country’s health facilities are overwhelmed.
Both public and private institutions are not in a position to take in new patients.
It also does not help that the new Covid-19 variant is appearing to be more ruthless, than the one the world was learning to manage.
Information, Broadcasting and Publicity Services Permanent Secretary Nick Mangwana made a chilling announcement on his Twitter page on January 1.
He said; “We hear UK beds are overwhelmed by Covid-19. Well, that’s them. They say in South Africa that hospital admission thresholds are now quite high – that’s them. But, let me tell you about our own situation: don’t catch the virus if you can avoid it. We are being overwhelmed and overrun by this virus.”
With rising cases, the lockdown which is in its second week was the natural decision.
There was a medical genocide mounting in Zimbabwe and something had to be done.
A lockdown was a good decision, the centre could not and still cannot, any further unrestricted economic activity would have spelt disaster for the country.
This is the second serious lockdown in the country, and if anything, it has shown us how the government refuses to learn.
To the government’s credit, first lockdown instituted in March 2020, helped in slowing down infections.
As soon as there appeared to be a recession in the numbers, authorities let their guard down and stopped all interventions which were being put in place to combat the spread of the virus.
Both the citizens and the government became complacent and this article will look into how we are currently hoisting by our own petard.
But first, we address inadequacies by the government in its response to Covid-19.
They jumped the broom, as soon as the cases appeared to be reducing in numbers, they set up Covid-19 admission centres.
All the renovation work at medical facilities stopped, suddenly they had other priorities like Mbuya Nehanda’s statue.
Companies had been instructed to work only with skeletal staff, but they slowly returned to normal function without any form of reprehension.
Bars reopened, popular night spots were functional, with people partying in large numbers despite the pandemic and the indefinite lockdown which we were made to believe was in effect.
Government departments returned to their physical bureaucracy, they started hosting events acting as if the world was now clear of the pandemic; the biggest culprits have been the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Publicity Services.
A few weeks ago, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa held a birthday party, at which several ministers and other elites were without masks, having the times of their lives.
The same ministry, weeks later held a workshop in Gweru, the three-day excursion had many journalists from different backgrounds who were bundled into the same room under the impression that they will be taught about the new government policy called the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
Easily, the workshop could have been held virtually, but the love for per diems preceded common sense and a super-spreader event was brewed.
Right after the workshop, Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) Secretary General Foster Dongozi succumbed to Covid-19.
This created a situation where many journalists had to be tested to eliminate the factor of risk, several scribes who attended were positive, some are still battling for their lives.
When a government department and its heads consistently make decisions with potential to cost lives, it becomes clear that they were not serious about eliminating the pandemic in the first place.
It does not help that law enforcement kept looking the other way.
An unexplained insistence on banning kombis, which helped our thin and weak public transport system, can also be attributed to the second spike.
People had to queue for ZUPCO buses for hours and that created a situation in which the observation of social distance was nearly impossible.
People took hours to get transport to their respective workplaces and homes, besides numerous pleas by the citizenry for authorities to improve the situation. The powers that be remained stoic, and we are now paying the ultimate prize.
Our leaders are addicted to propaganda, and in the middle of a pandemic it does not help matters as it muddies the waters as far as response interventions are concerned.
Citizens are also not absolved, the laxity was two-fold, and everyone failed to uphold their end of the bargain.
During the festive season, popular bars, clubs, leisure spots, churches, were packed with people despite regular updates from authorities reminding the country that we were not out of the woods.
Zimbabweans, despite knowing that their government is not the most prolific when it comes to responding to health crises there should have behaved better.
All those parties that happened in December were unnecessary and reckless, it is unfortunate that only DJ Fantan, Damma and Levels took the fall but many were in similar measure flouting the rules.
People sought a premature return to normalcy and its consequences are now becoming visible for all to see.
There is still stubbornness, a belief that Covid-19 is likely to infect the next person more than us.
It is understandable if people try to move around for work, people have to survive but for people to risk their lives trying while partying is reckless.
Regulations exist, not to appease the authorities but to keep people safe, there is need for re-education, to ensure that there is a degree of behaviour change in Zimbabweans.
Others still believe that Covid-19 is being politicised which is in itself an indictment on the government as it signals the disintegration of the social capital between authorities and the citizenry.
Other issues aside, the pandemic cannot be left to be the government’s problem, citizens have a role to play in adhering to guidelines, all non-medicinal interventions need discipline for them to work.
Zimbabwe does not have the same level of technology like China, who deployed applications to ensure that those who are infected do not gallivant infecting others, the lockdowns were strict because the country has well placed social services.
The country’s recovery rate is also dropping alarmingly, if persuasion does not encourage people to behave well, then the difficult circumstances being faced by those who are catching the virus and finding themselves in need of hospitalisation should be instructive.
Right now in Zimbabwe, there should be active debate on how the vaccine should be purchased and rolled out.
Both the authorities and the citizens do not appear like they are treating Covid-19 with the seriousness it deserves, the confluence of negligence has brought us here.
In a faux-lockdown, with authorities pretending to care, but with statistics turning into faces we know.
