Bulawayo deputy mayor and Ward 1 Councillor Mlandu Ncube has implored the council’s health department to disinfect public spaces in the city in order to contain the spread of Covid-19.
In the latest council minutes, Cllr Ncube expressed concern over the spread of the virus among the council staff which was now affecting service delivery.
Cllr Ncube further called for quick release of results when tests are conducted so that precautionary measures can be taken in time.
The local authority recently issued a statement citing that most staff members in the water and sewer department had been infected by the virus and had gone into isolation, leaving the response teams crippled.
“The Deputy Mayor (Councillor Mlandu Ncube) enquired about the disinfection of public places which was once done earlier. Contact tracing was also taking too long. He was also concerned about the spread of Covid 19 in Council Installations. Testing should be done and results delivered on time. The late delivery of results to Council staff affected Service delivery,” the minutes read.
The other councillors also raised concern on the criteria used during the vaccination of informal traders citing that some licensed vendors were renting their spaces to third parties, some who are not registered.
“Alderman Monica Lubimbi was also concerned about vending bays. She said some owners sublet their vending bays to 3rd parties. These 3rd parties had not been vaccinated as the vending bay owners were the ones who were vaccinated because they were the ones with licenses,” the minutes read.
“Health committee chairperson Councillor Sinikiwe Mutanda requested if there were any awareness campaigns which would be done for the unvaccinated vendors. Most Informal traders who wanted to be vaccinated were required to produce valid vending licenses.”
The Director of Health Services Dr Edwin Sibanda explained that Covid-19 was a national disaster and according to disaster response protocols, the major fight against Covid-19 was led by the Central Government.
“Public places disinfection was done after the central government had received a donation of hydrogen peroxide. The disinfection would continue if another donation was received. The efforts to decongest the city would be done through the provincial task force,” the minutes read.
“The CPR type of testing was recommended because of its accuracy but the challenge is the results were not very immediate. He concurred that staff shortages affected the composition of rapid response teams.”
