Zimpapers Logo

No one in the business sectors could have been surprised at the extension of the enhanced level four lockdown for another fortnight and most will be grateful that the cooperation the Government has been getting from most businesses allowed it to keep most of the economy open despite the surge in infections.

But as President Mnangagwa made it clear in his address announcing and explaining the extension, it is vital that everyone cooperates willingly and fully when it comes to implementing the raft of rules and regulations put in place, on the advice of the World Health Organisation and our own medical experts, to limit the spread of Covid-19 infection.

One worrying new factor, and the one fuelling the third wave Zimbabwe is now dealing with, is the spread of the delta variant, the one that arose in India. 

While it is no more deadly than the original variant and while vaccine effectiveness is about the same, it is far easier to transmit and to catch.

This means that there must be greater seriousness when it comes to wearing masks, keeping social distances and sanitising. And those temperature checks, sometimes done in a very perfunctory manner at the door, need to be done with more care.

The objective is to make it harder for the virus to spread from one person to another. So shopkeepers need to make it clear to their customers that they must queue in an orderly way and keep their distance. 

During peak selling hours, a supermarket might have to return to the days when the number of customers was limited, and a guard made sure they queued outside with proper distancing.

There are some smaller shops that are playing their part. Besides the general “no mask, no entry” notice, they also state that only one or two or three customers at a time can be in the shop, but that they will work as fast as possible on serving customers efficiently and will not allow queue jumping. More could follow suit.

Offices can be a problem. The Government has already asked for 60 percent of staff to work from home, which is not always done. But even in essential enterprises where staff have to be at work in good numbers, the rules on masking and distancing have to be followed, and if the furniture has to be rearranged to spread staff out, then that must be done. 

Factories can be a different sort of problem. Sometimes a team of workers has to work closely together. 

But on the other hand a factory is an environment where visitors can be banned and where workplace rules can be enforced. 

At the same time the supply chain for vaccine supplies has been opened up further. 

This means that more vaccines are available each day and the Government is working on increasing the number of medical staff manning the programme, so that more teams can be deployed.

Businesses need to work out how to get their staff vaccinated. Sometimes batches can be booked at a nearby clinic, for example. 

But in any case staff need to be given time off, in batches again probably, to queue and get their jabs. If transport has to be laid on to get a group down each day to a nearby centre then it must be laid on. Businesses need to remember that the vaccination centres work roughly the same hours as businesses, so people do need time off.

Those businesses high on the priority list must move promptly and make arrangements for all staff to be vaccinated quickly. At long last the anti-vaccination messaging is being ignored so the main problem now is working out how to get staff jabbed soon.

Vaccination is not perfect, but a vaccinated person is far less likely to become infected, and if they are infected then the symptoms are generally a lot less severe. So even if someone is infected they are not sneezing out clumps of virus and their masks, and other people’s masks, will do a good job, especially if they stand, sit and work a couple of metres apart.

Encouraging staff to use Zupco rather than the pirate taxis will be helpful. 

Admittedly that doubling of Zupco fares at the beginning of the month did not help, since pirates are a lot cheaper, especially when staff need transport half-way down a route when fares can be half. But the Government has stepped in and cut the increase. 

Zupco still gets a fare rise, but only one of 50 percent rather than a doubling, so the gap with the pirates is not so bad. In any case Zupco needs to work out how to boost efficiency; doubling prices every few months is not a viable option for any business.

Zupco crews are generally enforcing masking rules and every conductor now seems to have a squeeze bottle of sanitiser. Social distancing is automatic since no one crowds on bus seats unless they have to. The pirates are sloppier and are always willing to squeeze one more aboard. But again looking at transport problems of staff could pay dividends.

In one sense businesses must have been relieved by the President’s announcement of an extension of the enhanced lockdown. 

There were fears he might have had to be even tougher. One reason he could just extend was because the health gain from shutting large blocks of the economy would have been very modest, since the levels of compliance in the business are generally good enough to severely limit transmission. Most people are infected away from work.

But that is why businesses have to be even tighter in enforcing the rules, to make sure that transmission risk is very close to zero for their staff, and so justify the President’s faith that he does not have to worry much about them and can concentrate on other areas. 

He did, however, mention that the authorities would crack down hard and effectively on cheating businesses, going as far as closing the cheats down, but he expects self-interest and national interest to work together to ensure good compliance.