By Nomusa Garikai- Ever since the day, 11 March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared corona virus a pandemic many governments across the world prepared themselves to do what they could to contain the virus, save human lives and save the economy.
Those nations with competent leaders have done very well in all the three areas and those with mediocre leaders have done badly in one, two or even all three areas.
Still, most governments, competent or mediocre, had their eyes on containing the virus, saving human lives and saving the economy. It is now abundantly clear that this Zanu PF government had its eyes fixed on making sure Zimbabwe’s official corona virus figure are one of the lowest.
Of course, Zanu PF knew Zimbabwe was going to do badly in containing the virus, saving human lives and saving the economic given the country’s economy was already in total meltdown so there was little to save but worst of all the country will have no economic resources to buy the test kits, PPE, etc. needed to contain the virus and shore up the all but collapsed health care service. And so the country was doomed to have high confirmed covid-19 cases and deaths.
The regime was concerned about its reputation, whatever happened it cannot be seen as having performed badly, and hence the need to ensure that the official corona virus figures are kept as low as possible.
The regime was quick off the mark in passing a law making it a criminal office to publish corona virus figures other than the official figures. And so Zimbabwe’s official confirmed covid-19 cases and deaths have remained very low, as much as 40 times lower than one would expect compared to that of South Africa, for example.
Zimbabwe has managed to keep the corona virus figures very low by making sure it did not keep track of the virus by testing, tracing and tracking. If you do not test for covid-19 then all those with the virus or die from it cannot be included on the official list as corona virus victims. “Simples!” as VP Chiwenga would say.
Last week 70 health workers at Parerinyatwa Hospital tested positive of covid-19. Early this week, 20 nurses at Maphisa District Hospital in Matabeleland South test positive of the virus. This was the first time most of these health care workers have been tested. They are lucky, many other health care workers are still waiting to be tested.
Needless to say the patients in these hospital and clinics, even those with covid-19 like symptoms, are not being tested.
For months Zimbabwe has carried less than 1 000 test per day and no wonder not even the frontline health workers have not been tested!
The other way Zanu PF has kept the corona virus figures done is by falsifying the figures. Parerinyatwa Hospital reported that between 9 June to 25 July 2020 the hospital had 21 covid-19 deaths. And yet the government official record said the whole of Harare Province had 10 covid-19 death since the outbreak!
Zanu PF has already been boasting about Zimbabwe’s low corona virus statistics as proof of how well the regime has contained the virus. This has come at a huge price, by failing to test and informing the people of their covid-19 status this has only helped to spread the virus faster, farther and widely. If you don’t know you have the virus, for example, you don’t take the common sense precaution of self-isolating and so you, unknowingly, spread the virus to one and all!
Zimbabwe’s official confirmed covid-19 cases and deaths have started to soar and the real figures are even higher. The chickens are coming home to roost in their thousands and millions, like the red-billed quelea! The Zanu PF ruling elite are not being spared by the corona virus
Yesterday it was reported that 26 workers at the party’s Shake-shake HQ had tested positive of the corona virus. Today we hear the Minister of Information, Monica Mutsvangwa, is in self-isolation because he husband tested positive of the virus. Last Friday the late Minister of Agriculture, Perrance Shiri, was laid to rest at the National Heroes Acre, a victim of the corona virus.
The one thing corona virus has done is bring into sharp focus our folly of doing nothing to end four decades of bad governance for there is no denying that the huge price in human suffering and lost lives to covid-19 was exacerbated by decades of Zanu PF misrule and blundering incompetence.
One only hopes that this heartbreaking tragedy will spur this nation out of its sloth-like slumber into action and finally end the curse of bad governance.