PRETORIA – The restriction of movements to and from China in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19, caused by the coronavirus, has negatively impacted Zimbabwe’s tourism industry and small to medium enterprises, local media reported on Tuesday.
The Herald newspaper said due to the outbreak, entrepreneurs could not travel to China to import clothes, cell phones and vehicle spare parts for resale for fear of contracting the deadly virus.
Chinese tourists have also significantly cut down foreign travel to avoid further spreading the virus which has killed over 2 700 people, mostly in mainland China. Over 79,000 cases have been reported.
Earlier this month, news agency AFP reported that numerous Chinese shop owners in Namibia who had travelled to their country for the year-end break had opted to stay there instead of returning to Windhoek’s Chinatown, a vast complex of nearly 200 retail, wholesale, food and electronics outlets. In one block of 90 shops, 20 stores had reportedly not re-opened.
On Monday, Standard Bank donated R750,000 to China through its embassy in South Africa towards the fight against COD-19.
“This disease, this epidemic has the ability to affect the entire world so it is in our own interests to ensure the eradication of it. Secondly, and more importantly, as South Africa we believe in showing solidarity… with the Chinese people,” the bank’s CEO Sim Tshabalala said.
“This is not just a Chinese issues, it affects the entire world.”
– African News Agency (ANA)
