By Dorothy Moyo| Faced with a sharp rise in COVID infections among black Zimbabweans, Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri, who once said the disease is God’s punishment against western countries, has begun panicking to the point of urging businesses to start producing personal protective equipment (PPEs) and sanitisers.

Muchinguri-Kashiri, who is the Covid-19 Inter-Ministerial Taskforce deputy chairperson, said this on Saturday as she toured the Chiredzi district’s preparedness.

Chiredzi produces around 24 million litres of ethanol, which is the key ingredient in the production of sanitisers.

Muchinguri said Covid-19 had caused distress across the world and governments were battling to fight it, making it necessary for the private sector to intervene.

“As you can see, there is pressure on the need for personal protective equipment and sanitisers, among other things,” she said.

“You, the people of Chiredzi, have ethanol at your disposal and you must make use of it in the production of sanitisers even for the export market.”

“They are in compliance with all the regulations that we have put in place.

“We did not see any people roaming around; it was very quiet. The only challenge I observed is that of vendors who are selling vegetables who are not wearing protective clothing and they have no sanitisers.”

Muchinguri said nurses at the Chiredzi Polyclinic were not trained, yet this was the port of call for many people.