Pallbearers carry the coffin of a government minister Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba who died of covid at the Heroes Acre on Jan 21
HARARE, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Another minister serving in the Zimbabwean government died of the Coronavirus on Friday, prompting the country to announce plans to further tighten lockdown measures.
Late on Friday, the government announced that Transport Minister Joel Matiza had died after falling ill with COVID-19, less than two days after the country lost Foreign minister Sibusiso Moyo to the same disease.
Four government ministers have succumbed to the coronavirus in Zimbabwe so far.
According to unconfirmed media reports, several other cabinet ministers are fighting for their lives in a private hospital.
“We are in a dark cloud that we have to clear very soon,” deputy health minister John Mangwiro said.
Mangwiro revealed plans to intensify the current lockdown, which has been in place since early January and includes a strict nightly curfew.
Restaurants, bars, and gyms have also been forced to close.
“We have seen people not adhering to the lockdown regulations announced early this month,” he added.
Meanwhile, Pres Emmerson Mnangagwa said there are no action heroes after four of his cabinet ministers succumbed to Covid-19 within a week.
In his state of the nation address on Saturday, Mnangagwa urged people to hang in there because, “government is engaging countries which have developed vaccines — help and relief are on the way”.
With annual inflation of 375% and a struggling local currency, the business sector has been badly affected by Covid-19 with little to no bailout from the government.
However, Mnangagwa expects the private sector to join hands with state actors and the donor community in finding resources to buy and roll out the vaccine.
Zimbabwe’s first lady Auxillia Mnangagwa has invited women in her country to join her for three days of prayer and fasting over the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Friday, Zimbabwe registered 45 deaths, 476 new cases, 8,481 active cases and a recovery rate of 69.1%. Critics accuse the government of underreporting Covid-19.
The death of foreign affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo shook the president. He cut short his annual leave to cope with more deaths in his cabinet, the latest being transport and infrastructure minister Joe Matiza.
“We have lost more across the political divide. The danger we face needs us as Zimbabweans, whatever our station, colour, creed or politics, to be united in grief,” Mnangagwa said on Saturday.
Zimbabwe has registered 30,523 cases of infection since the start of the pandemic, including 962 deaths.
The numbers may seem relatively low compared to other countries.
However, the outbreak is putting the nation’s health system under considerable pressure.
Zimbabweans have taken to social media to blame President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his predecessor, the late Robert Mugabe, for the country’s dilapidated health infrastructure.
Health workers recently went on strike over a lack of protective equipment and poor salaries. — NNN-AGENCIES
