Harare – President Mnangagwa’s government has finally declared corona virus a national disaster. The COVID-19 disaster has led to the cancellation of public events of more than 100 delegates, including the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair which was scheduled for April in Bulawayo. This development could affect corporates, churches, the hospitality industry and sports events and political gatherings. However, Mnangagwa ordered schools to remain open for the remaining two weeks of the term, a position that exposes the duplicity of the Zimbabwe administration. Most schools in Zimbabwe house an average of 700 students, a significant number not to ignore.
In neighbouring South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa recently ordered the early closure of schools to help protect this vulnerable demography form the scourge of COVID-19. Political analysts in Zimbabwe believe that this hypocrisy of banning public gatherings and ignoring school gatherings is meant to diffuse the much hyped mass demonstration which was being organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions on the back of continued economic deterioration.
The mysterious Coronavirus threatens to slow down global trade, ENN reports. Zimbabwe’s development comes after a growing number of suspected cases of the Novel Coronavirus have been reported in Bulawayo, which is Zimbabwe’s second largest city. The virus emerged in Wuhan, a Chinese city with a population of 11 million people.
First discovered in China at a time the country was entering one of its busiest travel seasons in the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the virus has since decapitated global travel. As reported by ENN at the infancy of this global disaster when only 830 confirmed cases of patients infected with the virus in China had been reported, delays by the head of the UN health agency, WHO (World Health Organization) to declare Novel Coronavirus an official Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) have since backfired.
Considering China’s billion population and its global linkages, procrastinations in declaring the virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern has costed the world, particularly poorly resourced nations and Africa in particular.
For Zimbabwe, there is no room for slumber, and schools must be closed immediately to save a generation.
