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Herald Reporter

THE Government has directed restaurants attached to hotels, backpackers’ lodges and guest houses to restrict provision of food and drinks to room service while learning institutions are prohibited from having face-to-face classes as part of measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

This means guests may not enter the restaurants to have meals, but will have to eat from their rooms.

The regulations will be implemented together with a cocktail of other measures that have already been in existence such as putting on face masks, sanitising of hands and observation of curfew periods.

These latest measures were announced by Acting President Constantino Chiwenga who is the Minister of Health and Child Care in terms of the Public Health (Covid-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) Regulations, 2020 in a Statutory Instrument of a Government Gazette.

A fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has swept through the country following the recent emergence of the Omicron variant of that disease.

The variant has been described as highly infectious, but is believed to be less fatal than previous ones.

In terms of the regulations, universities, colleges and schools are prohibited from providing face-to-face learning as part of a measures to contain the disease.

They may, however, conduct public exams so long as they comply with sanitary measures prescribed by their parent Ministries.

The Government has maintained Level Two national lockdown measures to contain the disease.

“During the prescribed period hotels, backpackers’ lodges and other guest-houses shall provide food and beverages by means of room service, only when serving tourists and other persons who are resident therein;( b) the general school calendar for in person schooling is postponed for the prescribed period, but—(i) on expiry of the prescribed period, the general school calendar shall not recommence until after a week, to enable the responsible authority of educational institution concerned to avail the means and implement the appropriate protocols to ensure the safety of in person tuition,” reads the regulations.

The  Government has unveiled several measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and this has seen the number of infections and deaths declining.

Schools were supposed to re-open on January 10 for face to face classed, but this was deferred indefinitely.