As the number of coronavirus infections seems to be now rising one question on everyone’s mind is how well is Zimbabwe prepared to fight the virus. The Zororo Makamba death exposed how unprepared the country was back then but the country has been desperately fortifying itself using the meagre resources at its disposal and several hospitals are being upgraded. The question is will this be ever enough?
A total of over 2000 beds
Under normal circumstances, the country’s healthcare system has struggled and these are not normal times. The Imperial College in London estimates Zimbabwe will have as much as more than 13 million infections in the coming months. That will require an astounding 230 755 beds. Meanwhile here are the number of beds this country has:
Should admissions to hospital for #Covid19Zim be necessary these beds are currently available;
- Bulawayo -270
- Harare – 610
- Manicaland -200
- Mash Central- 180
- Mash East – 220
- Mash West -180
- Masvingo -160
- Mat North- 140
- Mat South- 120
- Midlands – 180
Mind you these are just hospital beds i.e. space in hospitals. We don’t have the specifics but a few weeks ago it seems we didn’t have any respirators in any of the hospitals, something that led to Zororo Makamba’s death. Even if we are being generous the number of respirators in our hospitals probably doesn’t amount to much.
Without respirators and protective equipment for hospitals staff, hospitals are just herding pens were the sick will go to die.
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