Edith Mazwi, a nurse at Parirenyatwa Hospital says dealing with COVID-19 patients was scary in the first days due to the death rate that was being recorded in other countries.
In an interview with The FeedZW, Mazwi said it was difficult and challenging as they didn’t know how to approach COVID-19.
“It was quite a difficult journey, it was challenging because we had fear of the unknown. We didnt know where the pandemic was going to take us.
“We didnt know how to approach it, we were really scared of what we were seeing in other countries. The rate at which other countries incurred deaths it was so chilling and we were really scared,” she said.
Mazwi, who is a theatre nurse and a focal person for infection and prevention at Parirenyatwa added that despite the fears, they still devoted themselves to do their work.
Zimbabwe was caught unprepared by the viral disease which has claimed many lives across the world.
In the first days, there was shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the health workers.
There was also shortage of test kits, ventilators and oxygen and the country had to rely on donations.
Chinese businessman Jack Ma was instrumental in sending equipment to Zimbabwe and other African countries.
The country had to institute a series of national lockdowns to try and reduce the rate of transmissions.
Lesson learnt from COVID-19
According to nurse Mazwi, there is need to prepare and be ready for future pandemics.
“So I can say if am to give a teaching right now, we need to be ready for anything.
“We need to be dedicated and committed, in order to tackle any kind of pandemic that we are going to face in the future,” she said.
The world is currently hopeful of the various vaccines that are reported to have shown positive signs #OpenCovidContracts
COVID-19 Experiences: Edith Mazwi Nurse Parirenyatwa
