THE government is taking precautions to curb the spread of the new B.A4 and B.A5 Covid-19 variant recently detected in neighbouring Botswana after affecting four people.
This comes amid fears that the new variant could also affect Zimbabwe ahead of the Easter Holiday where large gatherings are expected.
The fear has been compounded by the approaching winter season in which the deadly pandemic is known to thrive.
But in an interview with the Daily News yesterday, national Covid-19 coordinator in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s office, Agnes Mahomva allayed the fears, saying authorities had put in place enough measures to ensure the safety of Zimbabweans.
“As the government we are very well prepared for any new variant that might be detected, we are not going to be weakened by B.A4 and B.A5 as statistics of people being vaccinated are increasing every day.
“Any new variants will not have much effect if the country stays focused and adheres to all prevention measures including vaccination. Viruses mutate all the time but only some mutations affect their ability to spread or the severity of disease they cause.
“All ports of entry are being monitored throughout the country as we are approaching Easter holidays, those coming in are required to produce vaccinated cards or a negative Covid-19 certificate, these are some of the measurements that are implemented by the government to curb the spread of the virus,” Mahomva said.
She urged citizens to get vaccinated as well as taking the booster shots in order to protect themselves against the virulent respiratory disease that has so far claimed millions globally and thousands locally.
“Zimbabwe is currently focused on vaccinating as many people as possible in order to reach herd immunity and hence protect the individuals from severe disease and from death that might be caused by any new variant.
“Since the government lifted the restrictions on public gathering, we are still holding up on other measures which are mask up, practising social distancing and sanitation all the time. Since the government is trying to save its people’s lives by encouraging these measurements.”
Meanwhile, health experts have also called on citizens not to panic, saying the new variant was not as virulent as its predecessor, Delta variant.
Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association president Johannes Marisa told the Daily News that it was, however, dangerous for citizens to let their guard down.
“The variant is less aggressive compared to the Delta variant and we must treat it with kids’ gloves as it is not dangerous.
“We need to be careful as we do not have enough information; we just assume that it will be B.A1, B.A2 and B.A5. However, we need to remain vigilant and be more aggressive to put ourselves in a better place because scientists are still studying this variant,” Marisa told the Daily News.
Zimbabwe Nurses Association president Enock Dongo also emphasised the need for caution saying being Zimbabwe’s neighbour, Botswana could easily be a source of new infections.
“We have to admit that it is the new norm of living with Covid 19, and keep on applying more restrictions that will hurt our economy. Therefore, there is a need to sit down with the government and draft certain measures on how to prevent the spreading of Covid 19 and other new variants yet to be detected in the future,” Dongo said.
The new variants are being referred to as the new sub lineage of the Omicron B.A 4 and B.A 5 that are sisters of variant B.A1 and B.A2 that was detected in South Africa early this year.