Despite government putting in place a cocktail of measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic that has ransacked the world, stakeholders involvement in mass movement of people have raised red flags over loopholes in the announced measures saying the threat of an outbreak still remains high.
A number people interviewed by 263Chat felt government measures were inadequate as people were still exposed to risk environments citing lack of plans to deal with mass public transport system which ferries thousands everyday.
Passengers Association of Zimbabwe President, Tafadzwa Goliati said passengers remain concerned over the precautionary measures taken by the government which they felt were not sufficient to curb the spread of the virus.
“Firstly, we are aware that government and its partners are taking precautionary measures. However, we request that the government step up the screening of all travelers at all borders. Furthermore, we request that all bus termini and public toilets be provided with potable water and liquid soap or hand sanitizers for hand washing,” said Goliati.
Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (VISET) urged government to treat coronavirus seriously and allocate adequate resources to deal with the pandemic.
“Although Zimbabwe is yet to officially record any case of COVID 19, we are alive to the fact that an outbreak of COVID -19 in Zimbabwe will have far reaching implications to the ability of our members, throughout the country, to trade freely. To that end we will continue to urge the Government of Zimbabwe to treat the outbreak of the COVID- 19 with the seriousness that it deserves and immediately allocate requisite resources to deal with the pandemic,” said VISET.
The vendors group urged informal traders to cooperate with authorities and minimize negative ramifications of the outbreak in the country.
“We believe that timely action is fundamental for early containment and to that end we urge our members to cooperate with authorities as the nation tries to prevent or at least minimize the negative ramifications of the outbreak in Zimbabwe,” said VISET.
Zimbabwe Cross-borders Association Secretary General, Augustine Tawanda said they were looking at other means of survival as they cannot take the risk of going to countries with confirmed cases.
“We cross the borders more oftenly and that coronavirus is threatening our livelihood. If our neighboring countries are now high risks, that prevents us to go and do business in these countries hence threatening our source of income,” said Tawanda.
