The Swaziland (eSwatini) Government says it will feed
300,000 people – nearly a quarter of the entire population – over the next two
weeks during the present coronavirus crisis. Reports from across the kingdom
say people
are close to death.
Ambrose Dlamini, the Swazi Prime Minister, made the
announcement at a press briefing on Wednesday (22 April 2020). He did not
say where the food would come from or who would pay for it.
Swaziland is broke and even before the coronavirus outbreak hunger was
widespread across the kingdom which is ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute
monarch. About 232,000 people (25 percent of the rural
population) were expected to experience severe acute food insecurity this year,
according
to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
The number of cases of coronavirus in Swaziland stands
at 31. One person has died. Only 1,051 COVID-19 tests – from a population of
1.3 million – have been made in Swaziland. The Prime Minister said more than 62,000
people had been screened for the virus.
He said that the relaxation of a partial lockdown of
Swaziland that he
announced a week ago would be overturned. The partial lockdown had been in
force since 27 March 2020.
He said, ‘Over the week of the extended partial
lockdown, we have observed with concern that complacency among the populace is
creeping in and an increasing number of people around the country are now
casual and lack vigilance in preventing the transmission of the virus. The
level of compliance to the measures which are aimed at curtailing the rapid
spread of COVID-19 has dramatically dropped.
‘The number of people leaving their homes and places
of residence for non-essential services has spiked up, potentially exposing
themselves and others to COVID-19. It has almost become business as usual in
our cities, towns and communities yet the partial lockdown measures are still
in force.
‘Our health system cannot withstand an upsurge of
infections in this Kingdom and neither are our resources adequate to manage an
uncontrollable transmission of the virus.’
On 15 April 2020, announcing
a relaxation of the lockdown he had said, ‘Projections from health
professionals indicate that the partial lockdown measures may have delayed the
onset of the infection peak by one to six months, and likely to have reduced
the cumulative number of infections in eSwatini.’
Instead, the number of positive cases had nearly doubled in the past
week.
The Prime Minister said Government had taken the
decision to remove the relaxed measures of the partial lockdown with effect
from Friday 24 April 2020. He said the kingdom’s security forces ‘will be
vigilant in enforcing compliance’.
He said the following would apply.
1. In line with the COVID-19 Regulations, the Ministry
of Commerce, Industry and Trade will issue revised guidelines regarding certain
business operations.
2. Guidelines of the relaxed operation of public
transport are removed. A new set of transport guidelines will be announced by
the Minister of Public Works and Transport.
3. All the measures effected at the start of the
partial lockdown on 27 March continue to be in full force. These include that:
• Non-essential travel between communities, towns,
cities and regions is strictly prohibited for all citizens.
• All public and private gatherings exceeding 20 or
more people are prohibited.
• Citizens and residents returning home from abroad
will be quarantined for 14 days
• Visitation to hospitals is restricted
• Workers in non-essential services should work from
home.
The Prime Minister said, ‘We are all learning on the
go and as a result, now and again, Government will review these measures to
adjust to the situation on the ground at any particular time.’
The Government had
been criticised by the Swazi House of Assembly for not doing enough for the
poor and not providing personal protective equipment (PPE) for doctors, nurses
and other health workers.
The Prime Minister made a number of pledges that would
be fulfilled over the coming two weeks. He did not give details of how these
would be achieved.
They were:
1. Provide food assistance to the most vulnerable of
our society that have been adversely affected by the COVID 19 pandemic. The
food assistance will benefit over 300,000 individuals from 63,000 households
across all four regions of the Kingdom.
2. Government will ensure availability of face masks
to minimize the spread of the virus.
3. We will increase the number of ventilators
available in the Kingdom to assist COVID-19 positive cases.
4. Over a thousand scanners will be made available to
help upscale the screening process.
5. Government will intensify screening and testing for
COVID-19 symptoms.
6. Intensify contact tracing as an important element
of identifying potential cases in order to curb the spread of the virus.
7. Increase provision of Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) for health workers. We are cognizant of the shortage of PPEs due to
limited international supply. Government is intensifying the processes of
sourcing PPEs and has encouraged local suppliers to produce some of this
equipment.
See also
MPs
demand Govt. action as hunger spreads across Swaziland during coronavirus
lockdown
People
face ‘imminent death from hunger’ in Swaziland as coronavirus lockdown hits
poorest
Swaziland
nurses’ union calls for closure of major hospital in fight against coronavirus
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