By A Correspondent- Workers from other sectors have started joining a tools down job action by health personnel and teachers who are demanding United States dollar salaries.

The strike entered its third day yesterday, leaving most major public hospitals paralysed,  while critically-ill patients were being turned away.

At Harare’s Parirenyatwa Hospital, the NewsDay crew saw patients lying on pavements unattended to. Some of them had come from far away for reviews for chronic diseases, while others sought treatment for ailments such as hypertension and diabetes.

A desperate patient said: “We have wasted our transport money coming for check-ups as per our scheduled reviews. I am supposed to do blood tests, but was told to come back again because doctors and nurses are on strike.”

In Bulawayo, nurses who have been on a go-slow, joined the strike and were not attending to patients at different institutions.

The health personnel turned up for work, but were not performing any duties.

“We spent the whole day watching nurses and doctors on strike,” a patient told NewsDay.

Zimbabwe Nurses Association president Enock Dongo said doctors and nurses in most parts of the country had joined the strike.