Harare (New Ziana) – First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa on Wednesday called on women in Zimbabwe and abroad to join her in a three day national prayer and fasting for divine intervention in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zimbabwe is currently going through a brutal second wave of COVID-19, registering record number of infections and deaths in recent weeks as total cases topped 28 000 on Tuesday while cumulative deaths reached 825 after 52 more fatalities were recorded.
In light of the grim statistics, Amai Mnangagwa said: “Our country has witnessed a lot of Covid19 deaths in the past two weeks. Death is within our communities, at our door step. There is no family that has not suffered the loss of their beloved ones because of the pandemic. Every day we hear of names that are succumbing. I thus humbly appeal to all women to commit to a three day period from tomorrow in which we fast and pray calling for divine intervention to save the nation and our people.”
“I call upon you that as we pray to the Almighty for his mercy and grace, we also use that power bestowed upon us by society to ensure that every family is abiding by the measures that have been put in place by Government to curtail the spread of the infectious disease. As mothers, let us enforce compliance at the family level with measures that reduce the spread of Covid19 amongst us,” she said.
Amai Mnangagwa said there was need, at house hold level, to regularly use any means available to clean and sanitize homes and to ensure that everyone knows the importance of having a mask and masking up properly.
“Let us include the measures against COVID-19 as we play our motherly role of ensuring that every member of the family is responsible for their personal hygiene. As we avoid and fight stigmatisation, lets ensure that all members of the family have knowledge of how to help those that have been infected and are willing to assist those that get sick to cope whilst remaining safe from infection.
“As we pray for relief in our nation, we should observe the measures for safe praying. The best is to fast and pray as individuals in our homes. For those that congregate in small numbers as allowed by the COVID-19 regulations, let us mask up and observe safe physical distancing from each other. I call upon our traditional leaders, chiefs, headmen and village heads to help spread the word in our communities that will help mothers to save the nation from further damage,” she said.
The First Lady also urged media organisations to help in the dissemination of crucial COVID-19 messages to all communities.
She thanked frontline workers including health personnel for their dedication to duty and members of the Security Forces for enforcing lockdown regulations.
“Teachers across the country, you play a key role in getting the message across to communities. Join the crusade and spread the message. COVID-19 is taking a toll on our nation, we need to all know that COVID-19 is killing, and that there are measures that help the nation in reducing infection. Let us all do our part and save the nation from greater catastrophe,” she said.
New Ziana
