Zimbabwe: Government takes over council-run hospitals

Zimbabwe’s Vice President Kembo Mohadi announced on Thursday that the federal government would be taking charge of all council-run hospitals in an effort to coordinate the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Speaking at a meeting of the Insurance and Pension Commission in Harare, the Vice President said that government had invoked the Civil Protection Act in order to seize control of the hospitals. 

"We have also invoked the statutory instrument, the Civil Protection Act to take over all those local authority run institutions that deal with health until this pandemic is over because as government, we can resource better than local authorities to get these institutions running,” he said. 

Mohandi said that the government had thus far underestimated the ferocity of the pandemic by assuming a localised response would be sufficient in containing the spread of the virus. 

“Initially we had said maybe the City of Harare and its institutions will cater for that, but we found that it is not possible," said the vice president. 

In particular he singled out Wilkins Hospital in Harare as being in need of assistance, though he hoped this would be rectified by Friday and that the hospital would then be ready to receive patients. 

It was further announced that Zimbabwe’s largest public hospital, Parirenyatwa in Harare, will be divided into two wings: one to treat Covid-19 and another to offer regular healthcare services. In this way the government hopes to free up as many beds as possible in anticipation of the virus spreading. 

Photo: Review and Mail