Zimbabwe's Response To Pandemic Exposed After Zororo Makamba Succumbs To COVID-19

30 year old Zororo Makamba died on 23rd March 2020, two days after testing positive for the coronavirus. Upon his return from a weeklong visit to New York, he started exhibiting flu like symptoms three days later. A childhood friend said that the prominent broadcaster had been suffering from Myasthenia Gravis, a chronic neuroskeletomuscular autoimmune disease, and underwent surgery to remove a tumor under his lung in November 2019.

His case exposed the country's lack of preparedness and response towards the pandemic. Earlier in the month, nurses had downed their tools citing lack of personal protective equipment to enable them carry out their duties safely. They were attached to Wilkins Infectious Diseases Hospital, designated as the main isolation facility for coronavirus patients in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare. The hospital also lacks intensive care beds and ventilators.

While his family insists that his deaths could have been avoided, the health ministry says that he was vulnerable due to his pre-existing condition. The family state that Wilkins Hospital was not ready to receive patients, had no ventilator, oxygen and medication to treat Makamba’s respiratory condition, while the nurses and doctors had no protective gear. They said "The hospital has no water and there's a breakdown in communication between the government and doctors who are not readily available."

Makamba was the son of a prominent telecommunications businessman and ZANU PF politician James Makamba. The family spokesman and elder brother Tawanda Makamba said "Zororo was alone and scared as the staff at Wilkins Hospital ignored him and didn't pay attention to his deteriorating condition." He was buried less than 24 hours after his death becoming the first person to succumb to coronavirus in Zimbabwe.