By Desire Tshuma
GAMMA laboratories proprietor Professor Elopy Sibanda has urged the government to consider the safety of medical practitioners and adequately equip them with enough personal protective equipment (PPEs) so as to successfully win the battle against the deadliest Covid-19 pandemic.
As the coronavirus continues to claim the lives of many people around the world, Professor Elopy Sibanda expressed concern over the safety of the medical practitioners in Zimbabwe.
”Currently, as for this month of January only, we have lost six doctors to Covid-19 and a number of nurses and nurse aids have succumbed to this pandemic. I urge the government to closely look at this issue by providing medical practitioners with enough PPEs and equip health facilities with enough medical equipment and supplies so as to conquer this virus.
”This second wave of Covid 19 is very dangerous compared to the previous one. It now affects all the ages unlike the first one. People should adhere to the WHO standards in order to lessen the number of infections,” Prof Sibanda said.
GAMMA laboratories are actively conducting Covid-19 tests and they also do contact tracing in Harare and other places outside the capital city.
According to Professor Sibanda, Covid-19 is a respiratory disease that blocks the air passage to the lungs and once it gets into the lungs it produces gluish substances that will make the lungs fail to pump in oxygen. Covid-19 cases are spiking and the cases of recoveries are going up. As of 24 January Zimbabwe recorded 31320 while 22250 have recovered with 1 005 deaths.
This second wave of Covid-19 has so far killed two ministers and several top government officials including military men. The latest deaths of retired Commissioner-General of Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services, Paradzai Zimondi, and Transport Minister Joe Biggie Matiza made social media users air their unfounded assumptions that their deaths came as a result of the vaccines shared among the political elites.