Prevention: Remedy to curb the spread of COVID19
The best means to contain the rapid spread of COVID-19 can be achieved by exercising good personal hygiene through frequent hand washing with soap and water, maintaining social distancing and effectively using face masks. These sentiments were shared by the Mpilo Central Hospital Clinical Director, Dr Solwayo Ngwenya during a radio discussion that was facilitated by Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) on Skyz Metro FM.
The program discussants included Dr Ngwenya and Bulawayo Metropolitan Province MP Jasmine Toffa.
According to Dr Solwayo Ngwenya, Mpilo Hospital Clinical Director: “The coronavirus can easily spread when one gets into close contact with an infected person and where one does not maintain good personal hygiene. When you breathe the same air with one infected with COVID-19, the spread becomes very pronounced and when one touches the mucus or saliva droplets infested with the virus and later touches his/her face, mouth, nose and eyes.”
Dr Ngwenya cited the importance of conducting community outreach programs as society is unaware that infection rate becomes higher in situations where communities do not maintain social distancing of one meter or three feet from the closest person. He said that people are still failing to adhere to social distancing especially at mealie meal queues, where the virus can easily be spread.
“Developed countries are struggling to contain the spread of the virus in the best of means possible,” said Dr Ngwenya. “The magnitude in which the coronavirus disease has ravaged health systems world over is quite distressful. It is one novel virus that affected countries at a time when they were caught under prepared for such a devastating disease.”
Dr Ngwenya lamented the burden that the coronavirus is having on the economy, and therefore called the government to at least strike a balance between the existence of the disease and ensuring that the economy is not left to dwindle further into collapse. Dr Ngwenya also stated the contribution of humidity to the spread of the coronavirus.
“As winter is fast approaching the disease has a higher chance of survival rate as compared to when the weather is warmer,” said Dr Ngwenya.
Speaking during the radio program, Honourable Jasmine Toffa, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bulawayo Metropolitan Province has been raising awareness on COVID-19, particularly through circulating verified information on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp Group Chats.
“I have been visiting supermarkets to monitor the process of how mealie meal is sold to locals so that the process is fair for all, as well as to remind shop owners of the importance of maintaining social distancing,” said Toffa.
Honourable Toffa cited that the country’s dependence on donor funding for health institutions has left Zimbabwe exposed.
“This shows our vulnerability as a nation that we can not be self sufficient because we have not catered for such situations,” she said.
The radio program was held at a time when the country is under a 14-day extension of the nationwide lockdown that began on the 20th of April 2020 and is slated to come to an end on the 3rd of May 2020, as a means to curb the spread of the virus. To date 2,573,143 people have been confirmed to be positive of the coronavirus disease, whereas 688, 129 recoveries 177, 602 deaths have been reported, at a global scale.