The frequently asked question in Zimbabwe this past week has been whether the country has recorded a single case of the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) which continues to wreak havoc across the world with more than 117,769 infections and 4,293 deaths recorded.
What has been troubling is the fact that Zimbabweans are somewhat skeptical about the actual nature of the virus, they think their government is lying to them and they want all borders shut down immediately.
Fingers have been pointed at the government for trying to cover up coronavirus cases in the country. Some people think that the country has coronavirus cases but cannot divulge those facts as it will send the country into a panic mode.
Honestly, it will be a justified panic as Zimbabwe has one of the worst health systems in the world and the great fear is that should the virus hit our shores, God Forbid) the nation would be wiped out seeing that even nations with better health systems are struggling to contain the runaway virus.
This week, a Thai national who had developed symptoms similar to those of the virus, escaped from Wilkins Hospital, sending the country into a frenzy. The man had run away in fear of being quarantined if he had tested positive but when he returned, the government said he tested negative.
If the man had not been allowed in the country, all this would have been avoided.
Across the globe, nations have been putting strict restrictive measures to ban or minimize movements in an effort to control the virus.
All this is possibly against Article 43 of the legally binding International Health Regulations (2005), which states that any travel restrictions must be supported by science and comply with relevant World Health Organisation guidance
Last week, President Emmerson Mnangagwa banned civil servants and members of his cabinet from travelling outside the country, in a first effort to try and minimize the contracting of the virus through travelling.
To be fair, there can be some benefits to travel restrictions, scientifically. As seen in the unprecedented Wuhan shutdown that slowed the dispersal of infection by 2.9 days, perhaps buying time for other responses, travel bans can slow but cannot eliminate disease transmission.
Bans could also calm angry citizens demanding visible action, providing policy and operational space for governments.
The additional legitimacy gained by a responsive government can inspire citizens to self-report, self-quarantine or to trust science more generally but that has not been the case with our government.
At ports of entry, it a sorry state as officials who handle people coming in and going out are not adequately prepared.
Last week on my fact-finding mission at the Robert Mugabe International Airport, an official told me that they were promised gloves and masks for their protection but the government had not owned up to its promise meaning there is a chance that the virus could sneak in through our border.
Globally, countries continue to ask their citizens to believe that their borders will protect against every threat.
Borders may have been helpful in a world of state-on-state warfare, where migration and globalisation were minimal, but they cannot effectively protect against outbreaks, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, overwhelming migration, global tax governance, or accelerating global inequality.
Travel bans during the Covid-19 outbreak are unfortunately predictable, but they could be the last gasps of nation-states before we enter tomorrow’s necessary new era of global collaboration.
The Covid-19 illness is now in more than 100 countries worldwide, and the number of infections and deaths will continue to spike before this outbreak gets better.
This is a species-level war between Homo sapiens and coronavirus, not between countries or individuals.
Yet, the nationalist instincts of governments and societies are increasingly expressed through travel bans and xenophobic rhetoric, worsened by a social media “infodemic”.
Successfully tackling them depends on scientists and politicians having equal stature, but the current crisis has seen politics overriding science in decisions surrounding travel restrictions.
Bans could create a false sense of security that promotes complacency and diverts attention and resources away from other important measures like contact tracing and surveillance. The first wave of restrictions didn’t protect against new countries acquiring Covid-19
Bans also disrupt medical supply chains and carry administrative, ethical, diplomatic and economic costs, as well as human rights implications, that outweigh any potential benefit.
