Risk Assessment and Guidelines on the Risk Management of COVID-19 in Zimbabwe

Abstract

COVID-19 has affected different people in Zimbabwe in different ways. Most infected people have developed mild to moderate illness and some has recovered without hospitalization. The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in China in December 2019. Since then, the disease has evolved to become a global pandemic. Zimbabwe reported its case on 20 March 2020 and the number has increasing steadily. The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to impact the lives of the people in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has 12,544 confirmed corona virus (COVID-19) cases and 326 deaths as of December 23, 2020 (usembassy.gov, 2020). In addition to the risk imposed to the risk imposed by the virus to human lives, there is an imminent risk to the social and economic lives of Zimbabweans. The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to regress some of the gains Zimbabwe has made in poverty reduction and towards social indicators. This situation necessitates the Government to prepare a response plan, which enshrines the social and economic wellbeing of the people of Zimbabwe, a plan which lays out the multidimensional aspects of the COVID-19 response, with a clear strategy to efficiently and effectively minimize, mitigate and manage the adverse effects of the pandemic. This also means mobilizing technical and financial resources through the government’s own sources, donors’ assistance and engagement with development partners to define and implement new economic priorities, making precise planning to protect economic activities and jobs, ensuring food security and safeguarding and protecting social and health needs of the most vulnerable in a cohesive and collaborative manner. Underpinning this, a COVID-19 Socio-economic impact assessment and response plan has been developed through a joint effort of the Government of Zimbabwe, its relevant ministries and various agencies. These risk assessment and guidelines is on the risk management of COVID-19 in Zimbabwe. These guidelines reflects both a short term immediate response to cope with the most exigent socio-economic risks and risks and impacts of the COVID-19, along with medium to long term policy, hazard identification, hazard characterization, dose or response assessment, risk assessment matrices, exposure assessment, risk characterization, risk management and recommendations.