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OVER the weekend, Vice-President and Health and Child Care Minister Constantino Chiwenga announced new lockdown regulations which came into effect on Monday.

The regulations follow last week’s recorded 596 new cases and 26 deaths and are aimed at preventing a possible third wave of the pandemic.

Under the latest regulations, all gatherings except funerals are banned. Companies have been directed to decongest their staff by 50 percent while workshops have been banned.

The new measures also stipulate that restaurants will no longer be able to sell food to sit-in customers, save for those appended to hotels and lodges.

Beer halls and nightclubs remain closed while bottle stores will operate from 10AM to 4PM with retailers and shops operating from 8AM to 6PM.

While necessary in saving lives, the regulations come as business was beginning to pick-up following the first lockdown last year and another one early this year that was necessitated by a second wave of Covid-19 just after the festive season.

The tourism industry for example, was now going full throttle and domestic travel had picked up significantly. In Bulawayo, hotels have been fully booked for workshops and Government programmes.

On Monday, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) and District Development Fund (DDF) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to improve access to tourism facilities and resorts through seamless air travel countrywide.

The two Government entities signed the MoU at Hwange National Park Airport with Falcon Air making its inaugural landing. Falcon Air will be using the Caravan 11 which can carry eight executive and 14 economy passengers and operates from 72 airstrips dotted around the country.

The ban on workshops and gatherings will set back this massive project that improves connectivity of national resorts and tourist destinations to towns, cities and international airports.

Although the ban is temporary, no timelines have been made public, a situation that is causing panic in the business sector.

As we report elsewhere in this edition, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) has called for clarity on the timeline of the new Covid-19 business operating regulations in order to be able to plan accordingly.

“We applaud the Government for embarking on targeted lockdowns instead of wholesale lockdowns which have been used in the past. This will also give breathing space for businesses.

“However, CZR requests the Government to put timelines on when the measures will end for planning purposes, like it has done in the past despite that there were extensions,” said the CZR president Mr Denford Mutashu in a statement yesterday.

This is a very important point raised by retailers. Planning is crucial, especially in times like these.

Covid-19 is not going anywhere soon, hence the need to plan adequately and continue to adjust to the new normal of living with the pandemic.

We urge Government to respond to the issue of timelines raised by business and any other issue that can help in planning the way forward.

We also urge businesses to invest in the shift to the new normal as lockdowns could be a permanent feature going forward. Even after Covid-19, our lives will never be the same again. There is a need to come up with long-term strategies and not only plan for temporary lockdowns.