The world is currently facing a vicious war without guns blazing, a war penetrating global borders without remorse for those affected and a warzone without room for negotiations.As the world grapples with the latest threat to global security, COVID-19, governments are undertaking requisite measures to curb and mitigate the impact of the pandemic on economies. In plight of this, the President His Excellency E. D Mnangagwa has further extended the initial 21 days lockdown albeit mixed emotions from the ordinary citizens. In an economy where over 60% is made up of a spiraling informal sector, the lockdown extension may possibly diminish efforts by ordinary citizens to make an earnest living without succumbing to poverty and hunger.
A collapsed health sector coupled with ill-equipped mitigation measures and an underpaid frontline workforce has left most citizens at dire crossroads in making a choice on the lesser evil- choosing to die from Covid-19 or choosing to die from hunger. It has therefore turned to “survival of the fittest” as most families do not know what tomorrow brings or where the next meal will come from due to no surety from informal sources of income. However in a gruesome war where discipline and perseverance may seem to be the only viable prescription, bread and water may become secondary to surviving and overcoming the ordeal.
Lockdowns have proven to be an effective modus of curbing the spread of the virus in developed countries and may prove helpful in Zimbabwe if implemented correctly and appropriate knowledge dissemination is made on the magnitude of the pandemic and subsidies introduced to cushion the adverse effects of the lockdown on the ordinary citizens.
The global infection cases of the pandemic have proven that the pandemic knows no boundaries as to social class, gender or geographical location thus it has become the onus of every person to undertake recommended measures to protect oneself and their respective families. Moreover, the lockdown has brought about a wake-up call on lifestyle choices, the need for savings to fall back on, innovation solutions and the need to maintain cordial relations as no one knows what tomorrow may bring. Therefore, in as much as the lockdown may seem as a jail sentence, it seems plausible to take heed to calls to stay at home and utilise this time to acquire news skills, bond with closed ones and brainstorm on innovation solutions to sustain businesses in all weather conditions.
“Ignorance is not bliss, it is the kiss of death” (S. Kassem)
Nice read