BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
Some landlords in Victoria Falls are evicting tenants that test positive for Covid-19, putting pressure on the city’s isolation centres, it has been revealed.
Fungai Musinami, Hwange district medical officer, wrote to
the Victoria Falls Combined Residents Association (Vifacora), pleading with
them to help fight the stigmatisation of people that test positive for the
disease.
“We need help addressing an issue that is arising in
our community of people being chased away from their lodging places or
relatives not willing to have people isolated at home when they test positive
for Covid-19 even when they are stable and can really manage at home,”….
Musinami wrote in the letter seen by VicFallsLive.
“This really puts an unnecessary strain on our limited
resources as we have to admit stable people into the isolation centre.
“May your organisation please help us.”
The Victoria Falls Hospital l and Beat Aids Project Zimbabwe
are the two Covid-19 isolation centres in the resort city.
Vifacora chairperson Kelvin Moyo said bemoaned the
stigmatisation of people with Covid-19 and described it as inhuman.
“This reminds us of how people used to neglect people
with HIV and such stigmatisation tends to be catastrophic to those affected,”
Moyo said.
“As a city we do not support such inhuman treatment and we
would be mapping the way forward as leaders.”
Musinami also raised concern about an increase in the number
of elderly people that had severe Covid-19 symptoms
“We are also starting to see more elderly people with
severe Covid-19 who are in their 90s,” Musinami said.
“Can people also be careful around their elderly.”
Victoria Falls has over 150 active Covid-19 cases.