By Nomusa Garikai- There is no one out there who still believe Zimbabwe’s official corona virus cases and deaths are 26 109 and 666 respectively when figures in other countries better resourced to deal with the pandemic are soaring. Still the regime is determined to ram the lie down the nation’s throat!
“Vice President and Health and Child Care minister Constantino Chiwenga yesterday said Zimbabwe was still in good stead to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that public health facilities were still not yet strained,” reported News Day.
“But early this week, Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association president Johannes Marisa urged government to decentralise COVID-19 testing and management as well as turn all council clinics into COVID-19 centres.”
It is no secrete that at the outbreak of the corona virus pandemic in March 2020, Zimbabwe’s economy was already in total meltdown and its health care services had all but completely collapsed. The country was ill positioned to deal with the virus and, now the number of cases are soaring, the few and feeble facilities out there are being overwhelmed.
“In light of widely circulating reports alleging that there is a serious deficit of hospital beds, let me point out that these were embellished social media allegations by some pen-mercenaries,” was VP Chiwenga’s response.
Here we go! Instead of dealing with the message; blame the messenger!
Given Zimbabwe’s unfortunate starting position of a failed economy and collapsed health care service, the Zanu PF regime knew the country’s corona virus cases and deaths would be some of the worse in the world.
Whilst other nations discussed measures to stop the virus getting in the country number one; two, once there are cases in the country, test, trace, track and isolate and contain the virus and third be prepared to treat the very sick and bury the dead without making the bad situation worse. Zanu PF’s number priority was to make the truth about Zimbabwe’s corona virus situation remained a closely guarded state secret!
Only the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the designated Government official were the only authorised source of information on corona virus. Anyone else reporting on the matter faced a 20 year jail sentence.
Government has carried out most of the corona virus tests up to now and Zimbabwe has one of the lowest tests per capita. Last Month when SA was carrying out over 44 000 tests per day, for example, and Zimbabwe’s 1/4 SA’s population and therefore should have been doing 11 000 tests per day; Zimbabwe was barely doing 1 500 tests per day.
Even is someone has all the symptoms of corona virus, if they are not tested, it will be assumed they do not have the virus, officially at least. So by carrying out very few test, Zimbabwe has also kept the official corona virus cases low.
The down side of not testing and isolating is that many infected people are never picked out and left to spread the virus far and wide.
After a years of falsely claiming Zimbabwe had contained the corona virus the chickens are coming home to roost; the number of corona virus cases are soaring and the country’s feeble health care service is overwhelmed. And the regime’s response is to deny the truth and to silence all those dare say otherwise.
The last weeks have seen the number of corona virus cases and deaths surge far above the official figures. There is no doubt that the Zanu PF regime is deliberately falsifying the seriousness of the country’s corona virus situation for the purpose of hiding government’s blundering incompetence in the handling of the pandemic.
Zanu PF has turned an otherwise tragedy corona virus pandemic into a Biblical catastrophe and is not only trying to pull wool over the nation’s eyes but is, as usual, threatening to punish all who dare open their eyes.
The corona virus pandemic has once again brought to the fore the heavy price the nation, any nation, has to pay for having a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical government such as Zimbabwe has. And we are not out of the woods yet!
Whilst other nations have already started vaccinating their people, Zimbabwe does not have the money to buy the vaccines and will be looking to free donations. It could be another year before the vaccination is rolled out. Another years of these frightening covid-19 cases and deaths!
Make no mistake about, the post corona virus economic recovery will be a serious challenge even to the developed nations. A corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF government will certainly not be up to the task to preside over the recovery.
Zimbabweans have allowed, for 40 years and counting, this demonic Zanu PF regime to ride roughshod over them, denying them their basic freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful vote and even the right to life. The real big question here is “How long will Zimbabweans allow this madness to go on before they finally open their eyes?”
In the long run, nations get the government they deserve. Zimbabweans, by decades of omission, certainly deserve this corrupt, vote rigging and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship.
By God, we are paying dearly for our folly of decades of bad governance. Instead of just the usual price of sweat, blood, lost treasure and human suffering and lives; corona virus has upped the ante, it is now more sweat, more lost treasure, more human suffering and even more lost human lives! When will we ever learn that good governance is important and do so something about securing it for ourselves and posterity!