Recently the government of Zimbabwe scrapped the mask mandate that has been in force since 2020. According to the new rules, those who are fully vaccinated are no longer required to wear masks when out in public. Other countries had already made similar announcements and a lot of Zimbabweans had already stopped wearing masks in public anyway. People are still required to wear masks when going inside buildings like shops, banks and other similar enclosed spaces.

Zimbabwe has seen a significant decrease in COVID-19 in recent months. The last lockdown was a long time ago back in January when there were delays in reopening schools. The government has said that schools, which seem to be the biggest drivers of the pandemic, will still require students and teachers to wear masks. However, a lot of people feel that mask measures are now confusing and no longer necessary even though the WHO has not yet declared the COVID-19 pandemic to be over. Just to illustrate their point churches do not seem to have a mask mandate.

It is not even clear what kind of post-COVID-19 Zimbabwe is working towards. Western countries have been content to reopen with the level of cases they can handle with their healthcare systems. This means that they have already reopened even though they still have a significant number of cases. South Africa seems to have followed their lead. On the other hand, China has continued with its zero COVID-19 cases drive and introduced strict lockdowns every time cases are detected. Zimbabwe has sort of blundered in between these two policies.