Lack of hospital beds, desperate economy and crocodiles: dealing with Zim’s harsh lockdown

Trucks parked at the Beit Bridge border post.

• Authorities feared that the country’s health facilities would not be able to cope if cases continued to rise and he could run out of beds.
• While essential businesses such as supermarkets are now required to close at 3pm, non-essential businesses are expected to close their doors for the next 30 days.
• Informal cross-border traders will be severely affected by the new regulations, which could lead to deaths at ‘illegal crossing points on the crocodile-infested Limpopo River’, according to the Informal Economy Agenda

Zimbabwe launched a 30-day level four lockdown on Tuesday, a measure that is expected to save lives but have dire consequences for the economy and livelihoods.

Announcing the lockdown measures on Saturday night, Vice President Costantino Chiwenga said the move was necessitated by an increase in Covid-19 cases and deaths during the holiday season, which nearly doubled the number of infections recorded during 2019.

On Sunday, the southern African country recorded 774 cases of Covid-19, a daily record. This was up from 407 cases the day before, which was also a daily record.

Authorities feared that the country’s health facilities could not cope if cases continued to rise.

Using his Twitter username, just prior to the announcement of the lockdown measures, government spokesman Nick Mangwana said the country was “being overwhelmed and invaded by this virus.”

“We hear UK beds are overwhelmed by Covid19. Well, those are. They say that in South Africa, the thresholds for hospital admission are now quite high, that’s them. But let me tell you about our own situation, don’t catch the virus. Yes We can help it. We are being overwhelmed and invaded by this virus, “Mangwana tweeted.

On Saturday, Mangwana tweeted again, saying that if cases continue to rise, the country could “easily run out of beds.”

“To put our situation in perspective, you see, we registered almost 500 new positive cases in 2 days. If it happens that these new cases need a hospital bed, then you can see how we can easily run out of beds. And in those 2 days we have lost 9 people and much more in a week. ”

The hospital situation was corroborated by Dr. Solwayo Ngwenya, CEO of Mpilo Hospital, the largest hospital in Bulawayo, the second largest city in Zimbabwe.

“At the moment, the hour hospitals that are intended to handle severe cases of Covid-19 are not yet complete. Therefore, we can only handle mild cases. Any severe case in public hospitals we have nowhere to place,” Ngwenya told state broadcaster ZBC. .

Impact on the economy

While health experts believe increasing cases and limited situations at health facilities justify the closure, economists are preparing for the worst.

Economist Brains Muchemwa said the lockdown would have dire consequences for the economy, with the biggest impact centered on the collection of government revenue.

While essential businesses like supermarkets are now forced to close at 3:00 p.m., non-essential businesses like clothing retailers, general distributors, and others are expected to fully close their doors for the next 30 days.

“The lockdown will have an impact on the government’s revenue collection, which will have implications for the government’s social spending and the goals and obligations of the 2021 national budget,” Muchemwa said.

The president of the Zimbabwe Confederation of Industries, Henry Ruzvidzo, said it is still too early to determine the level of impact the shutdown will have, as the business representative body is still in talks with the government.

“We are still consulting with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to see which businesses will be affected.”

Farai Mutambanengwe, executive director of the Zimbabwe SME Association, said the impact on businesses will definitely be negative and make an already difficult situation worse.

Mutambanengwe said the lockdown is now a livelihood problem, as people in the informal sector have no savings to draw on.

“Nobody expected to start the year with a lockdown, so this is cause for concern.”

The Informal Economy Agenda coalition also issued a statement saying that informal cross-border traders will be severely affected by the new regulations.

“This will undoubtedly lead to loss of life at illegal crossing points on the crocodile-infested Limpopo River,” the statement reads in part.

“It would have been preferable if the licensed merchants were allowed to continue to operate in strict compliance with the Covid-19 protocols.”

The situation is likely to worsen with the chaotic situation at the Beitbridge border post.

While the blockade measures prohibit cross-border traders from traveling, those transporting commercial cargo to Zimbabwe and intending to cross back to South Africa have not found it easy.

Media reports claimed that the Zimbabwean border authorities in Beitbridge had told thousands of Zimbabweans returning to South Africa after the holidays that only those with permits or citizens of South Africa would be allowed through.

A Fin24 contact on the border confirmed the chaotic situation on the Zimbabwean side of the border.

The curfew on the South African side between 9:00 PM and 6:00 AM will also mean further delays and congestion at the border.

However, commercial cargo is still dispatched 24 hours a day.