The ManicaPost
Post Reporters
WHILE the people in Manicaland have generally taken heed of the need to stay home during the 21-day lockdown, pockets of resistance have been witnessed, thereby resulting in at least 203 arrests across the province.
Last week, President Mnangagwa called for a three-week lockdown that started on Monday.
So far, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), COVID-19 has already affected close to a million people and killed 42 000 people worldwide.
The lockdown is therefore a means to stop the spread of the highly contagious disease.
Although confirmed cases of COVID-19 are yet to be reported in Manicaland, stakeholders have upped their game, with the Mutare City Council partnering with the business community to mobilise part of the US$1,4 million that is required for the rehabilitation of the province’s isolation facility — the Mutare Infectious Diseases Hospital.
Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba on Tuesday led members of the Joint Operation Command to assess the level of compliance in Mutare.
The team visited various residential suburbs, Sakubva vegetable and flea markets, as well as supermarkets.
Dr Gwaradzimba emphasised the need for social distancing, which is also being encouraged by WHO.
“We realised that there was a high concentration of vehicles in the city centre at some point, and therefore we encourage everyone to stay at home,” Dr Gwaradzimba said. But as all the stakeholders are pulling in one direction to lock the virus out of the province, the availability of water has remained a major challenge in most urban settlements in Manicaland.
Some parts of the province are still getting rationed water supplies, with some people gathering at boreholes and various other water points in Rusape.
Good personal hygiene plays a crucial role is stopping the spread of COVID-19.
However, other than the intermittent provision of water, essential service providers have been up to the task as most supermarkets’ doors are open to the public, although they have adjusted their working hours to limit their employees’ exposure.
Law enforcement agents are maintaining a heavy presence, both in central business districts and residential areas, as they continue discouraging people from venturing outside their homes.
But while most beer outlets are closed in accordance with the President’s directive, shebeens have opened in some residential areas. Imbibers are gathering there in total disregard of the need to keep a distance between each other.
The pockets of resistance saw law enforcement agents
descending on offenders, with some of them fined between $200 and $500, depending on their offences.
The Manica Post witnessed as some motorists who didn’t have satisfactory answers on why they were not staying at home tried to force their way through a checkpoint at Mutare Teachers’ College on Wednesday.
In Mutare urban, as of Wednesday afternoon, 45 motorists had sneaked into the CBD. They were arrested while their vehicles were impounded.
Officer Commanding Mutare Central District Chief Superintendent Florence Marume confirmed the arrests and urged people to stay at home and restrict unnecessary movements into the city centre.
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa said three people were arrested and fined in Nyanga for disorderly conduct and breaching lockdown restrictions.
But the majority of Chipinge residents took heed of the lockdown directive and stayed at home.
Only grocery shops, the Chipinge District Hospital and pharmacies remained open.
The Manica Post also understands that a Chipinge resident who returned from South Africa on Wednesday is now self-isolating after presenting at the district hospital with flu-like symptoms.
The hospital said samples have since been sent to Mutare for testing.
Meanwhile, public transporter Zupco’s acting chief executive officer, Mr Evaristo Madangwa, said they have not reduced the number of buses on the road to cater for all employees who have to be at work.
“The fleet of buses servicing urban routes, including those in Manicaland, have not been reduced despite the low numbers of passengers. This is to ensure that our passengers maintain the required social distance.”
He said while the Zupco buses have the capacity to carry 64 passengers per trip, they are carrying 32 passengers.
“The reports we are getting from all over the country show that there is compliance in that area,” he said.
Mr Madangwa revealed that they have already acquired sanitisers and disinfectants that will be used to spray all their buses and termini.
“This programme is being done across the country. In Mutare, it will start on Thursday (yesterday). The safety of our passengers comes first and this will be a continuous programme until the pandemic is contained,” he said.
