Gwanda heeds Covid-19 lockdown

Gwanda (New Ziana) – Residents of Gwanda town, Matabeleland South province on Monday heeded the order by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to stay at home for the next 21 days as part of precautionary measures to avert the spread of Covid-19 which is ravaging countries across the globe.

Commuter omnibus operators did not operate while the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company buses that were ferrying people had sanitizers and carried only a few passengers at a time to observe the social distancing measure that limits the spread of the virus.

Usually busy places in the Central Business District especially the Bulawayo bus terminus, were deserted as most informal traders had scaled down operations while others closed completely.

While a handful of supermarkets opened for business, there was no congestion save at OK where several were doing their shopping under the watch of law enforcement agents who were ordering people to immediately go back home after purchasing their groceries.

By 3pm Gwanda town resembled a ghost town as the streets were deserted by both humans and traffic.

Police maintained a heavy presence in the high density suburbs of Jahunda, Spitzkop and Phakama where movement was limited to shopping only in the open supermarkets.

Meanwhile reports from Beitbridge say the majority of people in the border town also stayed at home.

The Beitbridge bus terminus was locked while vegetable and fruit markets were closed.

Officials at the immigration office said they recorded 351 entries and 234 exits on Sunday.

The government has recommended the monitoring of Zimbabweans who enter the country through the Beitbridge border post after South Africa entered a three week lockdown that began on Friday last week.

Zimbabwe has so far recorded seven cases of COVID-19 with one death.

New Ziana