Category: Op Ed

A special feature section for guest columnists

#CancerTalkWithMichelle: Cancer Awareness In The Times Of A COVID-19 Pandemic

Healthtimes

THE world over, focus has shifted towards managing, treating and preventing COVID-19 infection. COVID-19 has literally overshadowed other ailments including Cancer, one of the leading causes of death in Zimbabwe which is currently killing more people than  HIV, Tuberculosis (TB), Malaria and COVID-19 combined. By Michelle Madzudzo However, a dearth of data, shortage of testing equipment, lack of proven treatments or vaccine  and the speed at which the coronavirus spreads has resulted in the virus being portrayed as a much bigger threat compared to all time ravenous cancers such as…

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A Resurgence Of COVID-19 Cases Is Possible In Zimbabwe

Healthtimes
Dr Grant Murewanhema

THE COVID-19 pandemic reached its peak between July and August in Zimbabwe, and since then the daily numbers of reported cases have considerably come down. As of 7 November 2020, the country has reported a cumulative 8498 cases, with 7995 recoveries and 251 deaths, with 27 new cases having been confirmed in the past 24 hours. By Dr Grant Murewanhema The epi-curve for Zimbabwe has been quite different from what has been experienced in South Africa, Europe and America. We are grateful because with certainty, Zimbabwe would have been unable…

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#TalkingCOVIDWithDrGrant: COVID-19 Cases Drop, But Is It The End Of The Outbreak In Zimbabwe?

Healthtimes
Dr Grant Murewanhema

ZIMBABWE reported the first cases of COVID-19 in March 2020, and unfortunately a fatality was reported early then, which saw many in the country getting scared. Projections from elsewhere had predicted an exponential, uncontrollable spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Sub-Saharan Africa, which would see the continent being overwhelmed with cases and deaths. Fortunately, several months into the pandemic, most of Africa has done well, witnessing an impressive picture where most infected individuals at worst developed mild symptoms, otherwise in most cases they remained asymptomatic. By Dr Grant Murewanhema The course of…

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#TalkingCOVID-19WithDrGrant: Rays Of Hope, But No Room For Complacency

Healthtimes
Dr Grant Murewanhema

THE past few weeks have seen a marked reduction in the number of PCR-positive COVID-19 cases across all the ten provinces of Zimbabwe. This resonates well with the marked decline in the deaths attributable to COVID-19. Additionally, the number of cases admitted at the treatment and isolation centre at Parirenyatwa has significantly declined, and so are the admissions at Wilkins Hospital and other treatment and isolation centres throughout Zimbabwe. By Grant Murewanhema 218 new cases and 6 deaths were reported from 12 September 2020 to 18 September 2020. Harare still…

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#TalkingCOVID19WithDrGrant: Complacency Will Be Our Biggest Enemy In The Fight Against Covid-19

Healthtimes
Dr Grant Murewanhema

FOR almost nine months now, Zimbabwe has been battling the COVID-19 outbreak, which unfortunately has brought unprecedented changes to our way of life. As a country, Zimbabwe has by and large been spared of major epidemics in the past, and the COVID-19 pandemic presents the first real challenge to the country. By Dr Grant Murewanhema The previous SARS and MERS outbreaks relatively spared most of Africa, Zimbabwe included, and the Ebola Viral Disease outbreaks of West Africa also spared Southern Africa. Not surprisingly, the idea of quarantine, isolation and lockdowns…

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#TalkingCOVID-19WithDrGrant: Removal Of Mandatory Institutional Quarantine For Returning Residents A Noble Move

Healthtimes
Dr Grant Murewanhema

FROM the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe in March 2020, returning residents were mandated to go into quarantine in designated institutions, initially for 21 days, then for 14 and this was reduced in the past few weeks to 8 days. Recently a cabinet pronouncement was made that returning residents who test negative at points of entry no longer need to go into mandatory quarantine. By Dr Grant Murewanhema Before we critique this decision we have to go into the dynamics of transmission. Initially, the majority of confirmed cases…

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Funeral Policies Go Up As The Cost Of Death Rises Beyond The Reach Of Many

Healthtimes

THE year 2020 can easily be named the year of COVID-19. The deadly disease, which is caused by coronavirus, was first reported in China’s Wuhan province towards the end of 2019 and was only declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on March 11, 2020. To date, over 20 million cases have been confirmed globally with over 700 000 people succumbing to the pandemic. Although the disease only arrived in Zimbabwe in March, the number of infected people rose dramatically from less than 50 in May to nearly 5,000…

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As We Battle The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lets Not Forget The Avoidable Non-Covid Causes Of Morbidity And Mortality

Healthtimes
Dr Grant Murewanhema

ITS now six months since Zimbabwe reported its first case of COVID-19. The cases have exceeded 5000, with 130 officially confirmed deaths. The trajectory of the pandemic in the country so far has been better than what is being experienced in South Africa, which has since surpassed  the 500 000 mark with over 10 000 fatalities. Fear and anxiety have been high in Zimbabwe, especially given the dilapidated state of the public health system, the perennial industrial actions by healthcare workers over deplorable salaries, the obsolete equipment in most hospitals,…

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#TalkingCOVI-19WithDrGrant: From 550 To 3500 cases In 1 Month: What’s next?

Michael Gwarisa
Dr Grant Murewanhema

THE first case of COVID-19 was reported in Zimbabwe on 20 March 2020, and it took almost 4 months to get to 500 cases. There was widespread hope that we could contain the spread. For that entire period, the majority of cases were confirmed among returning residents from South Africa, and were diagnosed at points of entry and quarantine centres. However, the past month (July) has seen an uprecedented rise in cases, with over 2000 new cases diagnosed, and 490 cases diagnosed in the past 24 hours. By Dr Grant…

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#MentalHealth: At the COVID-19 crossroads; Lockdown Fatigue

Healthtimes

WHEN COVID-19 started to spread across the continent a lot of people thought it would be over in a few months. In no time the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic. Countries started implementing WHO guidelines to “flatten the curve.” By Dr Kudakwashe Muchena Five months after Zimbabwe recorded its first positive case resulting in a lockdown in March to try and manage the pandemic, we are still not yet at the peak. Several people thought that getting through the COVID-19 pandemic would be a sprint and not…

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