Zimbabwe has declared a state of emergency after a cholera outbreak in the capital city of Harare went on to kill 20 people and left in excess of 2000 people getting infected from contaminated drinking water.
The Government has taken prompt action as a result of this outbreak and hence they have kept the schools closed and also put a ban on the sale of meat and fish by vendors in all the affected areas. This is according to the statement given by the new health minister, Obadiah Moyo. It is expected that the police would enforce the ban.
Moyo said after taking a tour of the hospital, which is treating the patients, that they are declaring an emergency situation for the city of Harare. He thought that this would help them in containing the problems of Cholera, Typhoid and whatever else is going on. He has also specified the fact that they no longer want more cases of deaths coming through.
The outbreak was mainly caused due to the sewers getting burst in the suburbs of Budiriro and Glenview having the heavy population and now this has spread on to four other provinces as well. The City Council of Harare has struggled for a long time to supply water in all the areas of the capital city with the help of antiquated equipment as well as infrastructure often creating a force on the residents to drink water either from the boreholes as well as from the open walls. Certain households have had to stay without any water for almost 20 years.
In order to curb this menace of cholera, the ministry of health has created an urge among people to avoid having anything from those food premises, which are not licensed and also not to pass urine in the open. The Government has also started to send out public service messages through text message. Local media have put out reports regarding the tips on how people can avoid getting affected by cholera and typhoid and also when they should visit any clinic.
Harare has also requested for drinking water from agencies under UN as well as from private organization.
