by Zivanai Dhewa
The Harare Residents Trust has called on the Government to tighten travel restrictions amid the current rise in COVID-19 cases, the Harare Post can report.
In a statement, the HRT revealed that some checkpoints in Harare have been removed, while the remaining ones had further relaxed their checks, allowing more people into the CBD.
“By Saturday, the number of roadblocks in Harare had been reduced. Roadblocks such as the CocaCola and flyover roadblocks in Seke road and the police check points in Braeside-Chiremba road were removed.
“The remaining checkpoints have relaxed and most vehicles are passing through without examination, this has seen an increase in the number of people moving to and from the CBD, which is increasing the risk of more local transmissions of COVID-19.
“This is happening despite the official statement from the President’s office that the current lockdown restrictions are being tightened,” read the statement.
This publication spoke to some Harare residents on the situation in light of the rise in COVID-19 cases.
One resident, Mr Mutongwiza said, “On Friday 10 July 2020, the Ministry of Health and Child Care reported that confirmed cases had reason to 942, and on Tuesday, the cases jumped to 1064, this calls for level 5 lockdown, because at this rate everyone is bound to get infected one way or the other.
“Now we hear there are planned demonstrations on 31 July by some political outfits, which will be the breeding ground for COVID-19 transmissions, people should shun calls for a demonstration and stay indoors and preserve life.”
Another resident identifies as Mai Manguni from GlenView, bemoaned the winding queues by the water wells.
“In Glenview 2 we had no tap water since last Friday, we had no option but to join the winding queues at the community boreholes, where people are not wearing masks and failing to observe the social distancing,” said Mai Manguni.
Meanwhile, the MDC-Alliance has been disregarding the increase in COVID-19 cases in the country, region and the globe, as it continues to mobilise and call for a demonstration on 31 July 2020. However other opposition political parties such as MDC-T and LEAD have distanced themselves from the demonstrations, saying they are insensitive to the people’s welfare in light of the pandemic.
