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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent
Following the 21-day lockdown which started on Monday, those who used to be always away from home will now spend the 21 days at home which means they will interact more with not only family members but even neighbours.

Neighbours will definitely develop new relatioships because of the long period spent together while the family bond will be strengthened.

Spending days confined to one place for a person used to going to work, taking out friends for meals and drinks, going to the salon, movies or gym is a big challenge that many people have to overcome.

The Covid-19 threat is real and there is definitely a need to forgo some of the social activities as the nation works towards minimising human contact by confining families to their homes.

The deadly pandemic has killed more than 50 000 people worldwide and infected close to a million and Zimbabwe has joined the rest of the world to fight it.
Chronicle Showbiz visited various suburbs in Bulawayo during the week to establish how people are spending their time. Interestingly, many people have found ways to keep themselves entertained and are actually now enjoying staying at home.

“The lockdown has brought us together as a family as we’re now able to mingle and talk freely. We are now spending quality time together as a family which has never happened before,” said Mandlenkosi Maphosa from New Lobengula who operates a market stall in the CBD.

Some have simply taken the lockdown as a holiday.

“In all my working years I’ve never had such a long break from work. This lockdown has given me time to attend to a number of issues at home while resting with my family. People must use this time to reflect and work on themselves so that they become better people once all this is over,” said a popular radio personality who preferred anonymity.

Most youths are spending time on their mobile phones as they play online games. The popular games are Tik Tok challenge and the #dontrush challenge.
Some parents have however turned teachers as they are now assisting their children to make up for the lost time since children closed schools two weeks earlier.

“When I heard that schools were closing early, I was excited as I wanted to catch up on the latest movies at the cinema and also hang out with my friends who I last saw last holiday. But now I’m stuck at home with my parents who are insisting I should do school work,” said Yvonne Ndlovu.

Andrew Mpande from Pumula South said he was spending time on social media.

“With no sporting activities on the television I am spending more time on social media which is now boring,” said Mpande.

Those who drink alcohol have been hit hard following the ban on selling of beer by police on Thursday.

“This lockdown is now painful. Just when we had found a way of killing the boredom by buying beer and hosting drink-ups at each other’s houses, selling of beer is banned. This is a problem because it’s now going to be a real and painful sober lockdown,” said one SaTrey from Nkulumane 5.

To some beer imbibers however, nothing has changed as they are fully stocked for the period. — @mthabisi_mthire.