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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Chronicle Reporter
PARLIAMENTARIANS from Matabeleland South Province have urged the Ministry of Health and Child Care to extend the Covid-19 mass vaccination exercise to mining areas as they are heavily populated thereby making them possible hotspots for the pandemic.

The legislators said orange farms in Beitbridge are usually highly populated during this time of the year.

In an interview, Zanu-PF Umzingwane legislator Brigadier General (Retired) Levi Mayihlome said there was uncontrolled movement and overcrowding in mining areas which was concerning.

He said illegal gold panners were ignoring the existence of Covid-19 pandemic which has claimed many lives.

“Umzingwane is a mining area and there is high concentration of people who are very mobile. They live in large numbers; they are all over the place and it’s not easy to monitor their movements. As a result, we have seen outbreaks in a number of places which are frequented by the gold panners and where they sleep.

“These gold panners put up in places that don’t have adequate running water, ablution facilities and you find up to 50 people sleeping in the same quarters and they will be crowded. In such area the pandemic is likely to spread as movement and interaction isn’t controlled.

When Government further extends the vaccination programme these people shouldn’t be left out,” he said.

Rtd Brig-Gen Mayihlome said there were also gaps in the availability of water and sanitation facilities around vegetable markets.

Zanu-PF Insiza South legislator Cde Spare Sithole said the negligence which was being displayed by some gold panners was concerning. He said once they receive news of gold deposits illegal gold panners flock mining areas and in the process discard Covid-19 regulations.

Cde Sithole said stringent measures were required to monitor activities of illegal gold panners especially now that the country was battling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Beitbridge Senator, Cde Tambudzani Mohadi said this time around farmers flock to citrus farms in Beitbridge to collect oranges. He said some of the farmers illegally cross the border to sell the oranges in South Africa.

Cde Mohadi said others illegally cross the border into the country coming from South Africa to buy the oranges.

“There is a lot of illegal movement into and out of the country through our borders. If not tackled, it might cause a lot of problems for us as a nation,” she said.

Presenting a report on behalf of Matabeleland Provincial Medical Director (PMD) Dr Rudo Chikodzore during a Matabeleland South provincial taskforce on Covid-19 meeting on Saturday, Dr Andrew Muza said there was need for the province to be capacitated in order to handle serious Covid-19 cases.

He said most cases in the province were coming from Beitbridge and Plumtree with Beitbridge recording 81 cases per 10 000 people.

Dr Muza said this was because the province was receiving a lot of people through border posts resulting in the increase of Covid-19 cases in the province.

“We are receiving a significant number of human traffic coming through our ports of entry. Last week we received about 7 000 people coming through Beitbridge and Plumtree Border Post. As a result, our province is at a risk of recording high cases of Covid-19 cases that are imported from our neighbouring countries.

“However, we are facing a number of challenges at our ports of entry such as limited capacity to handle deportees and returnees especially in Plumtree. We also have a mammoth task of tracing all the people that would have come in contact with out positive cases. As the number of cases increases, we also need to increase our capacity to be able to trace all contacts. We hope to get assistance in the form of transport and fuel to carry out our mandate,” he said. — @DubeMatutu