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Herald Reporter

Bankers Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ) yesterday donated Personal Protective Equipment worth $6,7 million to the Government, aimed at assisting health workers towards the fight against Covid-19.

Health workers, who are part of the frontline and critical staff, have not been spared by the deadly pandemic.

Covid-19 has to date killed more than 1 200 people in Zimbabwe.

The PPE was handed over to Local Government and Public Works Minister July Moyo in Harare.

Handing over the donation, which included face masks and test kits, BAZ president Raiph Watungwa said banks will continue to mobilise resources to fight against Covid-19 and were committed to winning the battle at the earliest opportunity.

He said winning the fight against Covid-19 will see the economy regain its feet and benefit citizens and the global economy at large.

“We are making this donation at a time when the nation is grappling with the pandemic, with an increase in cases and a lockdown,” said Mr Watungwa.

“We would also like to salute frontline workers for the efforts they are putting in to contain the situation.”

Minister Moyo

Minister Moyo hailed BAZ for the good gesture.

“We are grateful to receive all this protective equipment,” he said. “This donation will go a long way in fighting Covid-19.

“BAZ has taken the lead and we hope they will continue to mobilise resources, let’s donate so that we fight this war and this year the effects of this pandemic have increased.”

Minister Moyo said the Minister of Health and Child Care Vice President Constantino Chiwenga asked him to appeal to BAZ and to all Zimbabweans who were willing to join the Government in fighting the pandemic.

“I have indicated to (the) Minister of Health and Child Care that we are receiving this (donation) and he was happy, particularly about the test kits, so we now need to have a PCR test so that we can confirm immediately if somebody is positive or negative and it will help us fight this pandemic,” he said.

“We are appealing to Zimbabweans that we need more PCR tests done throughout the country.”

The country is grappling with a second wave of Covid-19 infections that have risen to 33 548 and saw 1 254 deaths as of Tuesday, many of them coming in January.

Although the daily figures for new infections have gone down slightly in the last few days and the recovery rate improved, there is need to increase the fight against the spread of Covid-19, which still poses a huge threat to the populace.