Face masks to remain in use for now, says Govt
Health and Child Care Deputy Minister John Mangwiro has told the Senate that people in Zimbabwe will continue to use face masks to prevent Covid-19, adding that they will not be swayed by the media.
Zimbabwe introduced the wearing of masks in public places to curb the spread of Covid-19 at the height of the virus in March of 2020.
However, with such countries as the United Kingdom and several other European countries doing away with the laws that make the wearing of masks mandatory, Zimbabwe has no such plans yet.
Senator Harare Province Elias Mudzuri enquired whether there are any plans by the country to follow what is happening in other countries with regards to masks.
However, in his response, Deputy Minister Mangwiro said there are no such plans, adding that the country will continue to be guided by current science in fighting Covid-19.
‘’I want to thank the Honourable Senator Mudzuri for the inquisitiveness of his question. Yes, a few days ago I was in Europe, and you find they no longer put on masks. Yes, people have different approaches, in China right now, they have lockdowns, and of course, people have got different aspects.
‘’As the Government, pertaining to COVID-19, those who are in doubt, if you saw the number of people who died in Europe and those who died here, you find that it was more there than here.
‘’So, as Government, we are saying we stick to science, we want to follow science which is now there. We do not necessarily follow what is trending on television or on Facebook. We normally stick to science; science says, for now, vaccination is the solution so that we prevent any further deaths or illnesses that might happen.
‘’Definitely, we want to continue to encourage people to get vaccinated. Now some people are getting the 3rd, some are getting 4th jabs; we want to continue doing that.
‘’We still believe, and we also know that the virus is lethal; we cannot take it for granted. We follow science as scientists in Zimbabwe; we have committees that sit down every Monday to discuss the COVID-19, and we have a chief director that runs the COVID-19 pandemic so I definitely want to encourage Honourable Members to continue doing what the Ministry of Health is encouraging because we all know that the virus spreads by breathing like what I am doing, goes into the nostril so masks will help prevent the spread of the disease.
‘’I want to encourage even people with hypertension, blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, those on HIV treatment every one to get vaccinated. Let the people know that we are vaccinating from the age of 12 upwards so that people get protected from the virus,’’ he said.
Face masks to remain in use for now, says Govt
