Kwekwe Lockdown An Assault On Formal Churches - Ex-Health Minister

Former Health Minister Henry Madzorera (MDC) has described the government decreed localised lockdown in Kwekwe as nothing but an assault on the church.

Madzorera who is the MDC Alliance secretary for health told NewZimbabwe.com in an interview that the lockdown in its current format was unnecessary as Kwekwe remained a hive of activity except for churches that have complied with the directive. Said Madzorera:

After reviewing the terms of the lockdown critically yesterday, I felt that the lockdown was actually not going to achieve anything.

It’s unnecessary in its current format. Essentially, only the formal churches have been locked down.

For markets, shops travelling and other businesses, its business as usual. So, this lockdown is just an assault on the churches.

Buy Samsung, itel, Redmi smartphones in Zimbabwe

WhatsApp: +263715068543

We do not seem to have compelling data for a lockdown in Kwekwe at the moment, with only 12 reported positive cases since the outbreak started on 9 May 2021, the last of which was on 14 May 2021.

If the government had wanted to do a pre-emptive strike on this potentially disastrous outbreak, I think it should have been done on 9 May 2021 when the first cases tested positive, with the full knowledge that they had received a family member from India.

On Friday last week Vice President Constantino Chiwenga who doubles as a Health Minister imposed a 14-day lockdown on Kwekwe, following reports that the B.1.617 coronavirus variant, had been detected in the city.

Kwekwe residents’ chairperson Robson Kadenhe, who died recently, is believed to have succumbed to the COVID-19 variant he is suspected to have contracted from his niece who had just returned from India.

More: NewZimbabwe.com