President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has announced a series of measures to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic during the forthcoming Easter Holiday weekend.

The measures were announced by Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Monica Mutsvangwa during a press briefing following the weekly Tuesday cabinet meeting.

During the Easter holiday which starts on Friday, 2 April 2021, students at boarding schools have been barred from travelling to their homes for the four day holiday. Parents have also been barred from visiting their children who are students at boarding schools to prevent the spread of the disease.

The government also directed that Bars and nightclubs will remain closed during the Easter holiday. Social gatherings will remain limited to a maximum of 50 people.

While the government did not expressly ban travel, it has encouraged citizens to defer unnecessary travel plans during the holiday.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa

Below is the full statement from President Emmerson Mnangagwa on the additional measures for the Easter weekend.

ADDITIONAL MEASURES AGAINST THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 DISEASE DURING EASTER HOLIDAYS:

Zimbabweans will be celebrating Easter Holidays from this Friday, 2nd April 2021. This Christian Commemoration ends on 5th April when our Nation celebrates Easter Monday. In keeping with Christian practices, Zimbabweans flock to different places of worships, with some visiting holy shrines. Still, others may travel beyond our borders for the same purpose. The risk of disease transmission during the period is thus predictably high.

To safeguard our Nation, we need to take some additional measures to avoid the 3rd wave of pandemic which is already attacking some Nations of the World.

For the duration of the Easter Holidays:

1. Travellers coming into the country from neighbouring States must undergo valid Covid-19 PCR tests not more than 48 hours from the time of their departure for Zimbabwe. Travellers without aforesaid valid test results clearing them for safe travel will be quarantined for 10 days at designated hotels, and at their own cost.

2. School learners who are in boarding schools will not be permitted to travel back home. Equally, no parents will travel to concerned schools for purposes of visits.

3. Bars and night clubs will remain closed during the Easter Holidays.

4. All gatherings, including church services, funerals and weddings will remain limited to not more than 50 people.

5. Wearing of masks and social distancing will be strictly adhered to and enforced.

6. People from different localities are encouraged to come forward to designated centres for vaccination so that our Nation builds towards herd immunity.

7. The general public is encouraged to defer unnecessary travel outside localities of residence.

8. As already stated, coming into Zimbabwe without a valid PCR negative certificate will require quarantining in a hotel for 10 days at own cost. Those with valid PCR negative certificates will self-quarantine at home or in a hotel for 10 days from day of arrival into the country.

9. Tourists who volunteer to be vaccinated can access vaccination services available in our country at their own cost.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also announced that he will be keeping his country on Level 1, the lowest lockdown level, during the Easter Holidays.

Ramaphosa announced that the curfew hours will remain the same, the public spaces will remain open and interprovincial travel is still allowed. However, the sale of alcohol to be consumed off-site will be banned over the Easter weekend from Friday to Monday. The President insisted that the alcohol ban is “just those four days.”

The permitted size of religious gatherings has been increased to 250 people indoors and 500 people outdoors. However, the government directed that there will be no sleeping over after services.

The measures, however, seem to fall short of the recommendations made by health experts and analysts who had called on the government to implement a higher level of lockdown over the Easter weekend, to prevent a surge in Covid-19 infections.

Health experts and analysts have repeatedly warned that the coming holiday weekend will likely spur a third wave of the virus in South Africa, as people travel across provinces to spend time with family and attend mass religious gatherings.

Current projections are that these super-spreader events will lead to the next wave of infections between end – April and June, exacerbated by the encroaching winter months – when the virus becomes more transmissible, and the flu season begins.