A truckload of people traveling on a street in Harare on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Zimbabwe has reactivated the strict blockade measures it imposed when COVID-19 first attacked the country last year, while the country is fighting a resurgence of the virus. amid the shortage of vaccines. Credit: AP Photo / Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi
Zimbabwe has returned to strict blocking measures to combat the resurgence of COVID-19 amid vaccine shortages, the country’s information minister announced on Tuesday.
Infections have risen sharply in recent weeks despite a night curfew, a reduction in business hours, locks located in access areas and a ban on travel between cities. The virus has spread to rural areas with few sanitation facilities.
To try to contain the spread, most people will have to stay at home, similar to the movement restrictions adopted in March last year when cities were left almost deserted, the minister said on Tuesday. Information, Monica Mutsvangwa, after a meeting of the Cabinet.
Now people will need letters from employers to justify why they should leave their neighborhood. ” immediate effectsaid Mutsvangwa.
“Stricter sanctions will be imposed for infringements,” including the revocation of the licenses of infringing companies, he said.
Zimbabwe is one of more than 14 African countries where the delta variant is spreading rapidly.
Infections are spreading. The continued average of 7 days of new daily cases in Zimbabwe in the last two weeks has quadrupled, from 2.04 new cases per 100,000 people on June 21 to 8.39 new cases per 100,000 people on 5 July, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Previously, the country’s crowded cities were the center of infection, but now rural areas they are badly affected, Mutsvangwa said.
Government officials reported a lack of personal protective equipment, misinformation that discouraged people from receiving vaccines, and a lack of health workers. Some rural district hospitals require massive oxygen reservoirs, while others need “functional” isolation centers, Mutsvangwa said.
Zimbabwe is one of many African countries suffering from a resurgence of the disease, in contrast to other parts of the world where vaccines have made it possible to return to normal life. So far, 9% of Zimbabwe’s 15 million people have received at least one dose of vaccine and 3.7% have received two doses. Across Africa, less than 2% of the continent’s 1.3 billion people have received at least one vaccine jab, according to the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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