Author: Michael Gwarisa

Editor for HealthTimes, Zimbabwe's leading online health news publication

Local Firm Produces Reusable Face Shields For Use During COVID-19

Michael Gwarisa

LOCAL medical consumables manufacturing and distribution firm, Medical Solutions Zimbabwe has embarked on an extensive production of Face Shields and personal protective equipment devices that are used by medical personal for protection of the facial area from splashes, sprays, and spatter of body fluids. By Michael Gwarisa According to American epidemiologists and physicians, Face Shields are more effective protection against the COVID-19 compared to face masks.  Face shields are generally not used alone, but in conjunction with other protective equipment and are therefore classified as adjunctive personal protective equipment. In…

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Young People Struggle To Access ARVs During Lockdown

Michael Gwarisa

YOUNG People Living with HIV have raised alarm over their struggle to access life saving Antiretroviral drugs and other key sexual reproductive health (SRH) services from health institutions during the lockdown period. By Michael Gwarisa A number of young people living with HIV told this publication that children and youths living with HIV risk defaulting on medication as they are struggling to access health institutions or get clearance past police checkpoints owing to the strict measures government adopted during the lockdown period. In most cases, police are not considering hospital…

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Consult Before Extending Lockdwon, Health Experts Warn

Michael Gwarisa

PUBLIC health experts have called on President Emerson Mnangagwa to consult various stakeholders from all sectors before instituting a lockdown extension. By Michael Gwarisa Even though President Emmerson Mnangagwa has not announced any plans to extend the Lockdown, various sections of the economy believe an extension should not be a copy and paste scenario. Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) Executive Director, Mr Itai Rusike said the lockdown extension needs extensive consultations lest innocent lives will be endangered especially those who rely heavily on the informal sector. The lockdown extension…

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#BREAKING: Bulawayo Records Increase In Community Transmissions Of COVID-19

Michael Gwarisa

FOLLOWING government’s decentralisation of COVID-19 testing, Bulawayo seem to be recording an increased number of community transmissions mostly among contacts to the late case number 11. By Michael Gwarisa According to statistics from the Ministry of Health’s National Tuberculosis (TB) Reference Laboratory in Bulawayo, out of the six samples that were collected for testing, three turned out positive.  The total number of COVID-19 cases in Zimbabwe now stand at 17. Case number 15 is a 34-year-old female resident of Bulawayo. She has no recent history of travel or known contact…

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#COVID-19: Top ED Advisor Wants Health Minister Fired

Michael Gwarisa

DEPUTY Chairman to Zimbabwe’s Presidential Advisory Council (PAC), Mr Trevor Ncube has called for health and Child care minister Dr Obadiah Moyo’s immediate resignation for exhibiting gross incopempetence in the face of a raging COVID-19 pandemic. By Michael Gwarisa The Covid-19 has already infected more than 1 million people globally and claimed close to 100 000 lives. In Zimbabwe, 13 confirmed cases have been recorded including three deaths. No complete recoveries have been reported as yet. Through his micro-blogging site, Mr Ncube said the health minister had failed the nation…

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UK Scales Up Support For The Vulnerable In The Midst Of COVID-19 In Zim

Michael Gwarisa

THE United Kingdom (UK) has pledged its commitment to help combat  COVID19  in Zimbabwe through offering technical and financial assistance to various partners as part of its humanitarian efforts and mission to improve health conditions for vulnerable communities. By Michael Gwarisa  To date, the UK has pledged £544 million to support vaccine and treatments research, protecting fragile economies and helping organisations like the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF to slow the spread of the disease. In Zimbabwe, the Department for International Development (DFID) is supporting partners UNICEF, WHO, UNDP…

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Mystery Shrouds Zim’s Second COVID-19 Death…Doctors Want Urgent Probe Into Matter

Michael Gwarisa

CIRCUMSTANCES leading to the demise of Zimbabwe’s 11th COVID-19 case has opened a can of worms, further exposing  the fissures and  the country’s lack of preparedness in dealing with the raging pandemic which has infected  more than a million people globally and claimed 70 000 lives. By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe yesterday recorded its 11th case of COVID-19 which also turned out to be the country’s latest fatality from the virus, this time a 79 year old Bulawayo man who succumbed to symptoms of the virus over the weekend. The latest…

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Delta Avails ZW$6 Million Towards Zim COVID-19 Battle

Michael Gwarisa

ZIMBABWE’S leading beverages manufacturing concern, Delta Corporation has donated an amount to the tune of ZW$5 million to the government of Zimbabwe and ZW$1 million worth of medical accessories which will be channelled directly towards the identified immediate needs of frontline health care and law enforcement officers in the fight against COVID-19. By Michael Gwarisa The COVID-19 has infected more than million people globally and claimed 79, 060 lives. Zimbabwe currently has 10 cases including one death. Over the weeks, private sector and other well wishers have come forward to…

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US Channels $150,000 PEPFAR Money Towards Preventing COVID-19 In Zim

Michael Gwarisa

THE United States, through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (or PEPFAR), is using at least $150,000 USD to help with COVID-19 prevention measures in Zimbabwe specifically targeted at people living with HIV. By Michael Gwarisa This PEPFAR funding includes the purchase of soap, buckets, hand washing stations and hand sanitizer for supported facilities, and the reproduction of COVID-19 communication materials to be shared at supported facilities and through faith and community networks around Zimbabwe. Three PEPFAR clinical implementing partners, OPHID, I-TECH and ZACH, will carry out the…

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WHO Director Slams Racist French Doctors Who Suggested Africa As COVID-19 Vaccine Testing Ground

Michael Gwarisa

DIRECTOR General for the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has taken a swipe at French scientists and medical doctors for suggesting that Africa should be testing ground for COVI-19 Vaccine trials. By Michael Gwarisa Dr Tedros said the remarks by the scientists were nothing more than racist rants and a hangover from a colonial mentality. There was comment I think last week where some couple of scientists said the testing ground for the vaccine will be Africa. Honestly, I was so appalled. These remarks  came at a…

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