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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Manicaland Bureau
About US$2 million is needed to complete construction work and equip a Covid-19 isolation centre at Mutare Infectious Diseases Hospital, since renovations at the Mutare City Council-run facility started in May.

This is expected to cater for equipment like ventilators, drugs, beds and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the available infrastructure as well as the construction of additional infrastructure that includes an incinerator, a mortuary and an administration block.

The intensive care wing was completed in May, but the main wing is still undergoing refurbishment for it to be able to meet WHO standards for Covid-19 isolation centres.

The mortuary, incinerator and administration blocks are totally new works that will be done once current works are completed.

Mutare City Health services director Dr Anthony Mutara said the hospital was still not equipped to care for patients.

“Our renovations are still at that stage where we are not able to offer enough care to patients. We are admitting patients in the ICU wing but the main wing is still not complete. The oxygen pipes have been installed, but there are no oxygen tanks, so if we had a patient in need of oxygen, we would not be able to offer that and we have to refer them to another institution,” he said.

Delays in the renovations of the main wing have been attributed mainly to resource limitations.

Dr Mutara said the technicality of putting up infrastructure of that kind meant the council needed specialised skills, but the country only has a few such personnel who have been spreading themselves thin to cover all facilities across the country.

He said the unavailability of funds meant materials could not be procured in time hence stalling work.

Once completed, the hospital is expected to have 30 beds, with 10 of those in the ICU.

With more than 224 deaths recorded in Zimbabwe since Covid-19 pandemic claimed its first victim in March, 21 of those have been reported in Manicaland, making it the third hardest hit province in the country.

The cumulative number of confirmed cases in the province stood at 456 as at September 17, with 387 of those already recovered and 48 still active.

Although the incidents of death have significantly lowered since last month, Dr Mutara said one of the reasons behind the high case fatality rate in Covid-19 patients could be that patients were going into hospital too late.

“The high rate of fatalities experienced in Manicaland speaks to a number of things. The first is that people were taking their time to present at a health facility after experiencing symptoms and by then, they were more likely to already be at the end of their lives and health workers could do very little to help them,” he said.

He said limited testing contributed to the late detection of patients in need of treatment.