WCOZ Situation Report
ZIMBABWE LOCKDOWN: DAY 501

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12 August 2021

501 days of the COVID-19 Lockdown, and as of 11 th of August 2021, the Ministry of Health and Child Care
reported that, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases had increased to 117 954 after 696 new cases all
local cases, were recorded. The highest case tally was recorded in Harare with 149 cases. The hotspots
updates are as follows; Mashonaland West Province – Hurungwe (1), Kariba (3), Makonde (12, Mashonaland
Central – Bindura (16), Mazowe (7). Mashonaland East – Marondera (20), Murehwa (20). Masvingo Province –
Chiredzi (7), Masvingo (0), Midland Province-Kwekwe (11), Harare Province-Harare (149).
We note that the Hospitalisation rate as at 15:00hrs on 10 August 2021 was 536 hospitalised cases: 31 New
Admissions, 90 Asymptomatic cases, 333 mild-to-moderate cases, 79 severe cases and 34 cases in Intensive
Care Units. (Providence, Arundel, B5 Leon, St Michaels, St Anne’s and Montague did not report)

Active cases went down to 20 461. The total number of recoveries went up to 93 502 increasing by 2 003
recoveries. The recovery rate further, went up marginally to 79% from 78%. A total of 20 628 people received
their 1st doses of vaccine. The cumulative number of the 1st dose vaccinated now stands at 1 933 220. A total
of 23 154 recipients received their second dose bringing the cumulative number of 2nd dose recipients to 1
084 392. The death toll went up to 3 991 after 41 new deaths were recorded.

Critical Emerging Issues
1. GBV and State Responsiveness to GBV during the lockdown
We continue to raise concerns over the increase in GBV cases in Zimbabwe. We highlight local evidence
regarding the rise Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) is continues unabated and that access to services and
modes of delivery of services for victims/survivors of this type of violence are limited in real terms and are
largely deprioritised within the criminal justice system.
Further, our own experience in Zimbabwe, has shown that the lockdown has to an extent exacerbated known
drivers of intimate partner violence (IPV) and domestic violence such as increased stress at household level, as
well as lockdowns and limits on travel making it harder for women and girls to escape abuse and access
support.
Reports also indicate that regular health, psychosocial and safe-house services are being overwhelmed, while
traditional walk-in services are becoming harder to access or are not operating.
Due to travel bans and other lockdown measures, access to critical services such as clinical management of
rape, healthcare services for survivors of violence in the home or family, sexual and reproductive healthcare,
as well as mental health and psychosocial support, have been interrupted. In certain instances, this has
resulted in unplanned or forced pregnancies, unsafe abortions, inadequate prenatal and post-natal care for
pregnant and lactating women, increase in STIs including HIV, self-harm and suicide.
Our monitoring continues to reveal that survivors are facing challenges accessing services at hospitals. We
note that these challenges are compounded against social factors that already militate against the reporting of
gender-based violence and in particular sexual gender-based violence.

• We therefore recommend prioritisation of access to GBV especially SGBV services in public hospitals, at
  provincial land district levels and at other local clinics.
• We urge Government agencies, Ministry of Health and Child Care, the Zimbabwe Republic Police Victim
  Friendly Unit (VFU), Social Welfare Department, and Civil Society Organisations to prioritise awareness
  raising and support services for survivors of Gender Based Violence especially in this time of COVID-19.
• We call upon Government to create and facilitate stronger solid community base for the welfare and
  protection of women and children, during emergency situations and recovery planning.
• We reinforce our recommendations to stakeholders, CSOs and Government of Zimbabwe to urgently
  implement a dedicated ring-fenced budget to increase domestic funding for national GBV response.
• We continue to call for expanded access to information on GBV services, including publicizing hotlines,
  tollfree lines and data base of local public health facilities where women and girls can receive
  compassionate and sensitive care. We recommend that this information be integrated into the
  national COVID-19 response messaging.
• We call for Government to protect the girl child from rape, sexual exploitation, child marriages and
  forced marriages during COVID-19.

Outstanding issues

1. Measures to Support Communities to Access Substantive On-Time Health Care Support
We continue to note the difficulties reported by our networks for positive COVID-19 persons to access health
support. We are concerned at the impression that communities and households seek care when it is too late
without seeking to understand why. We note reports from our networks which indicate not being able to
make substantive distinctions between flue and COVID-19 symptoms. We also note reports reporting late and
rapid onset of symptoms. Further, we note households who have to make a decision between paying for tests
versus using limited household funds to pay for care of COVID-19. We are concerned that communities report
community health care centres with limited supplies and hence opt out of staying in health care centres where
there is no known support versus the tangible care that can be offered at home albeit to their detriment.

• We continue to call for direct efforts to reduce the lag time between policy announcements and
  implementation of the same in particular the virtual hospital services meant to provides expanded care
  to home based treatment and management of COVID-19.
• We continue to call the Government to ensure reduction of costs for testing of COVID-19 for suspected
  cases.
• We urge full support for households facing the crisis of the treatment and management of COVID-19.

This SITREP is developed by and through the collective network of organisational and individual members of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe who are engaged at community levels to national levels in the COVID19 response in Zimbabwe