Zimbabwe government sued over ill-equipped coronavirus frontline workers

Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights filed a complaint against the government on Tuesday, accusing it of failing to provide them with protective gears needed in the fight against COVID-19.

The collective claimed that more than 1,500 of them are working in the country’s hospitals “without adequate protection” from COVID-19, citing the lack of masks and protective clothing, as well as respirators or even oxygen for patients.

“The lack of control and screening of (health) personnel using public transport, puts its members at risk of contracting the virus”, it added.

Last month, doctors and nurses had threatened to stop work, denouncing what they described as a dramatic situation in the public health sector.

Zimbabwe has recorded ten COVID-19 cases and one death, according to recent figures from its health ministry.