HARARE, Feb. 01 — The generality of Zimbabweans has literally abandoned most COVID-19 prevention protocols, as numbers of infections and related deaths continue to recede.
Only 45 infections and four deaths were reported on Sunday, with a positivity rate of 4.5 percent.
The country is currently under Level 2 lockdown measures, which have seen a relaxation of earlier protocols with businesses now allowed to operate at full capacity while all employees can report to work at the same time.
With schools reopening on Feb. 7 after a long break which had been occasioned by a surge in infections, there will be more activity in the commuter transport sector where unregistered motor vehicles continue to be used to transport students to and from school.
Preventive measures instituted for public bars and nightclubs are apparently not working since patrons are not being asked to prove that they have received their full vaccinations for COVID-19.
It is business as usual in markets and other public places as people go about without wearing face masks and do not keep the stipulated social distance between two people.
One vendor who spoke to Xinhua at a shopping center in Harare’s Highfield high density suburb said it was difficult to conduct business, especially in the informal sector, while wearing face masks and observing the stipulated social distancing.
“First, we have to survive. We always remain wary of the police and quickly wear the masks as soon as we spot them,” he said on condition of anonymity.
“Can you imagine yourself shouting for customers to look at your wares while wearing a face mask? We have to strike a balance between surviving economically and surviving healthwise,” he said.
Zimbabwe’s national COVID-19 coordinator Agnes Mahomva has once again advised people to relax as the pandemic, which has so far killed 5,337 people from 229,460 infections as of Jan. 30, remained a threat.
She urged those who have not yet been vaccinated to do so as a preventive measure.
As of Saturday, nearly 3.3 million people had received their two doses of vaccines, while 55,381 had gone for the booster shots.
Mahomva said while the government had relaxed the measures, it was important that people remained vigilant.
“We are happy that the number of COVID-19 cases has continued to go down. We are, however, not yet out of the woods,” she said.
Mahomva said the easing of lockdown measures had been necessitated by science but added that vaccination should continue.
“The virus caught us by surprise and anything can happen,” she said.
“We should not relax, but continue with vaccinations and strict adherence to all COVID-19 preventive measures such as masking and sanitizing. It is important to remain vigilant,” she said. (Xinhua)
