MDC Alliance Weekly Health Alerts
23 January 2021
In the face of this menacing covid19 pandemic, which has claimed hundreds of lives and infected tens of thousands in Zimbabwe, the MDC-Alliance lead by the People’s President Advocate Nelson Chamisa, through its Health Department in conjunction with the Communications desk, will be dialoguing with you fellow citizens through its “weekly Health Alerts with Dr Henry Madzorera”.
We are launching this today by examining the Super Spreader events for Covid19 in our country.
Let’s prevent the spread of COVID-19. A healthy nation is a productive nation. Together we win Zimbabwe for change.
Reigning in Super Spreader Events (SSE’s) of covid-19 in Zimbabwe.
The average number of people a covid-19 patient infects is between two and three. In a super spreader event (SSE), one person can infect a much larger number than this. Let us look at three important variables that determine the spread of covid-19:
- Venue
- Ventilation
- Vocalisation
Venue:
Covid-19 spreads more easily indoors, especially when the room is overcrowded and social distancing is not possible to attain. One person in such a crowded room can infect dozens others. In one study cited by the CDC (Centres for Disease Control), the odds of catching covid-19 in such a confined space were 18.7 times higher than in open air venues.
Pertinent examples of such SSE venues include church meeting places, our prison cells, funeral venues especially for the women who spend the whole night singing in a confined space with the body of the deceased. Our transportation systems, especially the often overl0aded ZUPCO buses, the kombis and the mushikashikas, are fertile venues for spread of the virus and qualify as SSE’s. We have of late seen large gatherings at party congresses and church conferences being held indoors even as our epidemic was escalating exponentially. These are potentially dangerous SSE’s. Whenever you meet in an enclosed space with people you do not ordinarily live with, even if they are as few as one dozen, you are potentially exposed to a SSE!
Ventilation:
Being in a room or auditorium with poor ventilation, with other people, is equal to exposure to a potential SSE. You need only one infected person to get the whole room engulfed with covid-19 particles, because corona virus particles emitted by that one infected individual tend to continue to float in that atmosphere for a very long time. Outdoors, the particles tend to be blown away by the wind, reducing infection rates.
In terms of ventilation, I cannot think of any more vicious super spreader than our prison cells.
How much time you spend in that room continuously has a bearing on your chances of catching covid-19. It therefore helps a lot if you go out to catch a breath of fresh air every few minutes. While that is possible in social gatherings, it may not be possible if you are incarcerated in a prison cell.
Vocalisation:
Talking, singing, shouting, are the order of the day in pubs, church gatherings, funerals, and parties. The louder you talk or sing, the more aerosol you pump out and the further it flies. When there is background noise like music, as in a pub or shebeen, and especially when most of the patrons have effective concentrations of alcohol in their brains, all restraint is cast off and aerosols can travel several metres at a time. If everybody wore a mask in this situation the velocity and distance travelled by this aerosol will be greatly curtailed.
What should government do about SSE’s?
It is government’s sole responsibility to get rid of all SSE’s in Zimbabwe, if we are to save the country from becoming a mass grave.
- Decongest prisons and all places of incarceration. Nobody should ever spend a night in remand prison unless they are deemed a dangerous criminal. Bail hearings should be expedited and police cells should stay as empty as possible. This protects both the accused and the police officers. This disease does not discriminate according to rank or status.
- Church gatherings and choir practice should stay banned until we flatten the curve, as should schools and universities.
- While hospitals and clinics are potential super spreaders, these cannot be closed. We need them now more than ever. Government should instead provide adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers, and ensure that the health workers are well motivated and well incentivized. Working hours for health workers should be reduced during this pandemic (the PPE itself is exhausting; try wearing an N95 mask for 8 hours and you will understand what I mean).
- Increase the number of hospitals admitting covid-19 patients to reduce congestion and health worker fatigue.
- Enforce the wearing of masks by ALL in enclosed spaces, especially prison cells.
- Maintain decent social distancing, even among convicted criminals.
Conclusion:
Government should take it upon itself to eliminate all super spreader events from Zimbabwe, and should make this task an urgent priority. Covid-19 is no respecter of persons.
Inserted by:
MDC Alliance
Communications Department
