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Nurses, doctors and other health staff are the front liners in the fight against Covid-19 which continues to claim thousands of lives daily worldwide. These are men and women who are at very high risk of contracting the virus given the nature of their operations.

The Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) made up of health workers are responding daily to distress Covid-19 calls to either collect samples for testing or ferry Covid-19 patients to isolation centres.

The same teams are involved in contact tracing and monitoring those on self-isolation. A number of Zimbabwean nurses spoken to in the past pledged their commitment to do their best to assist patients despite the threat of contracting the pandemic.

The nurses said they are bound by the nurses’ pledge to save lives at all costs. What the nurses, doctors and other health workers should understand is that the threat of contracting Covid-19 is real and in fact many doctors and nurses are among the Covid-19 fatalities globally.

There is therefore a need especially at public health institutions to drill this message home so that health workers do not panic when a colleague tests positive. Health workers should instead be able to give messages of hope and encouragement to such colleagues.

We therefore expect them to handle situations of colleagues testing positive better compared to ordinary citizens. It was therefore disturbing to learn that when a nurse tested positive at Mpilo Central Hospital last week, there was general panic among nursing staff instead of comforting a colleague and giving her words of encouragement.

What is encouraging in Zimbabwe is that since the confirmation of the first Covid-19 case in March, the country has recorded just four deaths from the pandemic and has nearly 30 recoveries. This should encourage those that test positive to live positively with the pandemic.

It is a fact that the country has during the past few days witnessed a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases mainly as a result of returnees from either South African or Botswana. This therefore calls for strict adherence to Covid-19 prevention regulations.

We want to commend the authorities for swiftly responding to the challenge of increasing cases of returnees escaping from quarantine centres by deploying security forces to the centres.

Citizens on their part should remain vigilant and report individuals that put their lives at risks by evading quarantine centres as well as disregard or violate regulations meant to curb the spread of the pandemic.

The Government should ensure the risk of health workers is minimised by providing the required personal protective equipment (PPE) and also ensuring the working environment is disinfected regularly.