737 days of the COVID-19 Lockdown, and as of 4 April 2022, the Ministry of Health and Child Care reported that, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases had increased to 246 612 after 87 new cases all local cases, were recorded. The highest case tally was recorded in Mash East with 15 cases. We note that the Hospitalisation rate data as at 15:00hrs on 3 April 2022, was: 30 hospitalised cases: 3 New Admissions, 4 Asymptomatic cases, 22 mild-to-moderate cases, 3 severe cases and 1 case in Intensive Care Unit. 6 of the 30 hospitalized were vaccinated and 24 were not vaccinated. A total of 44 658 people received their 1st dose of vaccine. The cumulative number of the 1st dose vaccinated now stands at 5 558 545. A total of 8 855 recipients received their second dose bringing the cumulative number of 2nd dose recipients to 3 567 193. A total of 22 224 people received their 3rd dose of vaccine shots bringing the cumulative for 3rd doses to 468 768. Active cases went down to 2 304. The recovery rate remained at 97%. The total number of recoveries went up to 238 857 increasing by 102 recoveries. The death toll went up to 5 451, after 5 new deaths were recorded.
Area of Concern
Education Sector and Access to Water
We continue to highlight distress in schooling communities with limited access to water and sanitation services. From time immemorial, we have been constantly raising the dire water and sanitation crisis in the country, and the need to ensure that education facilities and schools are radically improved to the benefit of the vulnerable population. We continue to bemoan measures which ultimately place the burden of the national pandemic on the shoulders of over-burdened and over-stretched communities during COVID-19.
- We therefore urge Government to come up with comprehensive strategies to ensure that all schools have access to water and improved sanitization mechanisms for reducing risk of COVID-19.
- We remind Government that every child has a right to education and therefore no learner should be discriminated and penalised on the basis of their schools’ capacity to mobilise resources for “procurement of water”.
Source: WCoZ
