Hugs‚ fresh fruit no more as cholera kills in Harare

Embracing at church‚ shaking hands‚ buying fresh fruit on street corners and paying respects to the dead are rituals vanishing as a deadly outbreak of cholera takes hold in Zimbabwe.

The water-borne disease is changing the way people go about their daily lives in the capital city Harare where frantic efforts are underway to avert a disaster.

On Monday health and child care minister Dr Obadiah Moyo put the body count at 30 with more than 4‚000 cases being reported just under two weeks ago.

“The total number of deaths has risen by two to 30 people … We are increasing water supplies and medication to the affected areas following assistance from various partners‚” said Moyo.

But the biggest losers in the outbreak are informal traders‚ mostly vendors selling fruit and vegetables. A 2017 study by the International Monetary Fund said Zimbabwe had the second-largest informal sector in the world. The report: “Shadow Economies Around the World: What Did We Learn Over the Last 20 Years?” described more than 60% of the economy as informal.

The government has unleashed a Joint Operations Command (JOC) – comprising the military‚ police‚ prisons and Central Intelligence Organisation - to get vendors off the streets in a bid to contain the spread of the disease. There is a heavy anti-riot police presence in the capital city which has seen running battles between vendors and law enforcers. The Harare city council said the operation was undertaken in the “interest of public health.”

Mavis Sibanda‚ a widow who survives by selling fruit and vegetables in the high-density residential area of Kuwadzana‚ one of the most affected parts of Harare‚ has been forced to resort to selling sweets.

“I understand the situation because I live in this community. However‚ my livelihood can’t just end like that. I will sell these small things until the situation normalises‚” she said.

Business is at an all-time low for farm produce sold at Mbare Musika and Mbare Magaba‚ the city’s main informal trading markets. A trader‚ speaking on condition of anonymity‚ said he was contemplating transporting his produce elsewhere.

“Right now I am told there is a shortage of tomatoes in areas such as Bulawayo and I am stuck with perishables in Harare. Although it could pose a risk‚ if I don’t act fast I will go out of business‚” he said.

Bulawayo is yet to record any cholera cases after tests on suspected patients returned negative.

With vendors clashing with the police in Harare over the past weekend‚ National Vendors Union of Zimbabwe (Navuz) chairperson Sten Zvorwadza said forcing them off the streets through violence would not yield positive results.

“Confrontation has not worked in the past‚ it has failed so many times and it will still fail again‚” he said.

The Mangwarire family from Glen View buried the head of the family‚ Regerai Mangwarire‚ on September 8‚ who had succumbed to cholera. Under normal circumstances there would have been a body viewing for people to pay their last respects. But government advised against this to avoid the spread of cholera.

In all the 30 confirmed deaths‚ health workers are present at the burials.

“We were under strict supervision and body contact was discouraged. Mourning a loved one has never been this hard because it’s regulated‚” said a relative of the Mangwarire's.

Some churches have moved away from hugging and shaking hands to fist bumps.

“We have clean water by the entrance and exit for people to wash their hands. We discourage handshakes‚” said Prophet Undi Williams of Kingdom Lifestyle Ministries.

Meanwhile‚ the price of hand sanitisers in most shops in Harare has gone up by almost 100% since the cholera outbreak.

Cholera outbreaks have been reoccurring in Zimbabwe since the early 1990s. With the exception of large outbreaks in 1999 and 2002‚ the disease was kept under control through intensified prevention and preparedness.

But in 2008 there were 8‚500 cases being reported weekly and more than 4‚369 deaths in a space of six months.