Health Care

The Zimbabwe Nurses Union has called for a return to work after months of strikes over pay and workplace safety, after the appointment of Vice-President Chiwenga as Health Minister. Civil servants have been promised a pay adjustment every three months.

The COVID-19 lockdown is now indefinite,
reviewed every two weeks, and cross-border trading, and remittances have
greatly diminished as sources of survival for the people. While the number of
COVID-19 cases in Zimbabwe is small, the fear of a big outbreak is
well-founded. Small but significant aid grants came from the European Union,

Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 lockdown has been extended for two weeks until May 3. At the time of writing there are 28 confirmed cases, and four deaths, due to the virus.

The first Zimbabwean to die from novel coronavirus infection was Zororo Makamba, on March 23. He was a prominent young man who was recovering from a lung operation. He had contracted the virus in New York. Since then another Zimbabwean has died. Makamba’s family account of his last days demonstrates how totally unprepared Zimbabwe is for the pandemic.

March 13, 2020: The new year is already into its third month and the combined impacts of severe drought, long-term economic collapse and now the COVID-19 pandemic are closing off the chances for a turn-around in the economic crisis and for genuine democratic reform for Zimbabwe.