SOME Zimbabweans are resisting adapting to the new normal in light of the devastation caused by the global pandemic Covid 19.
One of the custom that Zimbabweans are dangerously holding on to is attending funerals in numbers and shaking of hands at funerals. As Theophilus Chuma reports, funerals have become Covid 19 super spreaders creating a vicious circle that might be difficult to break.
The battle to control the Covid-19 continues, yet some cultures remain stubbornly imprinted within the society – providing a breeding ground for the virus that is claiming more lives with each passing day.
Death is finding new ways to attract it’s victims as funerals are drawing large numbers making it easy for the virus to spread. People are still dangerously clinging to the custom of shaking hands at funerals.
This is exposing them to infection and possibly more funerals and more infections in a vicious circle that can only be arrested by a radical adoption of the new normal.
Experts fear the worst…..sliding into a third wave as they now view funerals as super-spreaders of the virus.
At the rate at which the virus is claiming lives on a daily basis, it has increasingly become necessary for the public to adjust to the new normal…..which has seen holding or shaking hands and embracing at funerals becoming a dangerous catalyst for the spread of the virus.
But even as death is respected, staying safe safeguarding remaining is probably the priority now.
Awareness programmes on the pandemic at a national level have been commendable but this is an effort that also meant effective participation of every stakeholder to improve efficacy on message delivery.
Unfortunately, the public is waging a bitter battle to derail efforts to contain the pandemic.
Statistics from the Zimbabwe Republic police show that two thousand nine hundred and 11 arrests of COVID-19 regulation violators have been made as of this Tuesday 19 of January.
Of those arrested, nine hundred and eleven were people without face masks, while one thousand four hundred were arrested for unnecessary movements.
