Over the past week, 10 000 people in Zimbabwe have been arrested for not wearing face masks in public. Meanwhile, another 16 000 were also arrested, for having flouted lockdown restrictions.

The BBC reports that most of the offenders were ordered to pay an admission of guilt fine.

A hard lockdown, aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus in the country, came into effect on January 5, after cases in Zimbabwe doubled last month following festive season gatherings and traffic from neighboring South Africa. South Africa is currently experiencing a harsh second wave of the virus.

At 38, the highest number of daily deaths from the virus was recorded on Wednesday, with more than 9000 people infected. In total, there have been more than 34 000 Covid-19 cases recorded and almost 600 deaths since March 2020, when the first virus case was detected in Zimbabwe.

According to the BBC, health services are under threat of being overwhelmed, and health care workers face a shortage of personal protective equipment.

Umm Muhammed Umar