The ManicaPost
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Senior Reporter
MANICALAND is bracing itself to welcome more returning Zimbabwean citizens from abroad through the Port of Beira in Mozambique.
As a result, the provincial Covid-19 taskforce has stepped up efforts to identify more facilities to be used as quarantine centres.
Members of the provincial Covid-19 taskforce, led by Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs, Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba and the secretary to the Public Service Commission, Ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe today toured Rowa Training Centre, which is one of the quarantine facilities in the province.
Currently, 13 returnees from Mozambique are housed at the facility, which is a few kilometres from Mutare.
Dr Gwaradzimba said the number of the Zimbabwean citizens returning through Beira has not yet been established, but so far at least five other institutions have been identified as quarantine centres for them.
“We are running around trying to establish as many centres as possible because we are expecting many people coming from abroad through the Port of Beira by ship. We are yet to receive the actual numbers, but we are just preparing in the event that we get high numbers. The Immigration Department and Ministry of Foreign Affairs will alert us once the number is established so that we prepare adequately,” she said.
Besides Rowa Training Centre, she said the taskforce has negotiated with various institutions that include Mutare Teachers’ College, Marymount Teachers’ College, Mutare Polytechnic, Forestry Industrial Training Centre(FITC) and Toronto Training Centre, to accommodate the returnees.
For now, priority is being given to centres around Mutare, although centres have also been identified in all districts to cater for returning residents who come in through other ports of entry.
Manicaland has two functional official ports of entry – Forbes in Mutare and Espungabeira in Chipinge – but there are many other unofficial crossing points that are used by communities in both Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Dr Gwaradzimba said security forces are on high alert to ensure that people using these entry points are placed in quarantine and that they get tested.
She said the initial batch of returnees to be quarantined at Rowa will be released after 14 days if their PCR test results are Covid-19 negative.
Rowa Training Centre is run by the Public Service Commission and has a capacity to hold 45 people at any given time.
Ambassador Wutawunashe said the tour of the facility had enabled them to identify areas that need to be addressed for it to be ready to cater for more people.
“We want to take an all stakeholders approach to see what needs to be done to improve the facility so that it becomes more amenable for use. We also want to assess how our staff can be protected as they take care of the residents.So far protective equipment has been issued to the staff and great care is being taken in preparing food and taking care of the needs of the residents,” he said.
