BY NYASHA DUBE – The novel coronavirus seems to have found a new spot in the small mining town of Zvishavane located in the Midlands province, after 35 nurses from the district’s main hospital tested positive of COVID-19.
This was confirmed yesterday by Minister of State for the province Senator Larry Mavhima, and the hospital has since been closed for disinfection.
Whilst contact tracing is still going on, panic and fear has gripped some residents given the nature of their daily operations where they are more often in crowds with minimal social distancing, some even wearing masks as chin warmers. It is also a case where people are more scared of the lockdown enforcers more than contracting the disease, as you will see someone fixing their mask only at the sight of a police officer or soldier.
The question one might have is, could Zvishavane possibly become the next COVID-19 hotspot? Chances of such happening are very high as most people are still in denial of the existence of the deadly coronavirus.
Some people would rather die hustling to provide for their families than to stay at home until the virus is contained. They can’t be blamed as most of them were informally employed and their source of income was suspended at the beginning of lockdown in April, in measures to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
Let’s take a look at the nature of small scale mining activities that are common in the area. The spread of the virus could even be more severe as there’s often lack proper sanitation or ablution facilities at the mines. This is also an area where miners are hardly concerned about health, but prioritise production. Yet they are the most affected by diarrhoeal related diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentry among others.
We cannot talk of the impact of the coronavirus in Zvishavane and sideline it’s neighbouring district Mberengwa. The areas coexist and are both concentrated artisanal mining areas where most miners travel from across the country and stay long at mines where they usually fall short of clean water and proper sanitation. This creates a breeding ground for the virus. Meaning there’s not only the virus affecting Mberengwa but also other areas where these miners come from.
There are also residents who travel from the neighbouring rural areas to the small mining town on a daily basis to carry on their different businesses. Some are civil servants and pensioners who come to withdraw their earnings, some are farmers and miners who come to purchase their inputs or sell their products, to mention only a few. And there’s even more danger these folks carry the virus to the rural parts where people are going on with their normal trades as they were doing before the coming of the virus. This means more people could be infected. With minimal COVID-19 screening taking place in the area, and high costs of testing which are beyond what many can afford, the possible impact of the virus is worrisome.
Shifting focus to service provision by the town’s local authorities, this is happening at a time when high residential areas such as Maglaz, Mandava and parts of Lot 2 and Makwasha are reportedly going for weeks without running water. Maglaz, for instance, is a densely populated small area where people rely on one borehole as a source of the precious liquid. And most cannot afford to social distance as they have to queue for water everyday. Then there is Mandava where most households use public toilets. There isn’t much cleanliness and this becomes a health menace.
A health crisis is looming in the small mining town and surrounding areas, and if it goes uncontained, the area might sooner or later become the new hotspot for the deadly pandemic. There need for more sensitisation programs so that residents in the mining town understand the severity of the virus.
COVID-19 TIP: Remember its impossible to tell if someone is a career of the virus by just a mere look. To protect yourself, always wear your mask properly especially in public areas and always practice social distancing.