Source: Zimbabwe employs additional health staff amid 2nd wave of COVID-19 – Xinhua | English.news.cn
HARARE (Xinhua) — Zimbabwe is employing an additional 500 nurses and 47 junior medical doctors in response to rising COVID-19 cases amid a second wave of the pandemic, an official said Wednesday.
Of the 500 nurses, 200 have already been deployed to main hospitals in Harare, the second largest city of Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South Province which borders South Africa and Botswana, while the remaining 300 will be deployed in due course, Zimbabwean Health Service Board Executive Chairman Paulinus Sikosana said.
He also said that the government will continue to provide all medical staff with monthly COVID-19 risk allowances and insurance cover against the disease.
According to Sikosana, 1,547 health workers out of a workforce of 50,000 have been infected with COVID-19, while seven have died from the disease.
“The Board does not take this lightly and puts every effort to ensure that members of the health service are appropriately trained and … are provided with adequate and appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment) and receive appropriate counseling and support services,” he said.
As of Wednesday, the country has recorded 24,256 COVID-19 cases, 13,658 recoveries and 589 deaths.
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