Terrified Harare Hospital midwives downed tools on Thursday morning following the death of a senior colleague from covid-19, Harare Live has learnt.
They expressed their fears citing lack of Personal Protective Clothing (PPE).
Speaking to Zim Morning Post at the height of the melee, Zimbabwe Nurses Association official Samson Gurupira, said the health personnel will not work until government addresses their concerns.
“Look here, we are frontline workers and have high exposure to the pandemic so we need adequate PPE,” he said.
“These midwives were only given face masks and plastic aprons and it is inadequate.
“What made them panic is the death of the matron today. She was in charge of the whole department this last Sunday and contracted Covid 19 resulting in her death this morning (Thursday),” Gurupira continued.
“So what we are basically saying is we will sit outside until we are provided with adequate PPE,” he added.
He further lamented on the delay in releasing Covid 19 test results which is causing confusion and distortion of statistics.
“A patient comes in with no symptoms and results come in late causing late diagnosis. People are dying of Covid 19 and results are only released after death,” Gurupira said.
Hospital authorities were also accused of concealing information regarding the number of infected staff members.
Government has introduced a 30-day lock-down in light of the recent upsurge in Covid-19 cases.
Efforts to contact both the institution’s chief executive and spokesperson hit a snag at the time of writing.
Deputy Minister of Health, John Mangwiro last week called for strict adherence to Covid-19 prevention measures such as wearing of masks, washing hands and practising social distancing.
He pointed out that Harare and Bulawayo are the current hot-spots. However, all other areas are in equal danger.
The enforcement of strict lock-down regulations under Level Four are part of efforts to rein in the spike in infections threatening to overwhelm health services.
On January 2, 407 new cases and eight deaths were reported in 24 hours.
On January 4, 774 new cases and three deaths were reported in 24 hours.
On January 5, Zimbabwe recorded 34 deaths in 24 hours
Zim morning
