Harare, Zimbabwe – Since New Year’s Day, Thomas Rasauka , a gravedigger in Zimbabwe’s capital, has had very little rest.
“We are digging 10 to 12 graves daily now,” he said, describing the past few weeks as one of the most tiresome and busiest periods in all his 12 years in the profession.
It is mid-morning on Monday and Rasauka and seven of his colleagues at Warren Hills Cemetery, one of the oldest graveyards west of Harare, dig the semi-dry ground, forcefully tossing the loose red sand and heaping it on the side.
It is the fifth grave the team has dug since they started work.
‘Worst nightmare’: Zimbabweans suffer amid rising COVID cases
Amid a deepening economic crisis, Zimbabwe’s healthcare system is in shambles as coronavirus patients mount.
Harare, Zimbabwe – Exhibiting symptoms synonymous with COVID-19, Kuda Musasiwa, a 43-year-old father of four, immediately got tested for the infectious disease. When the results of the laboratory swab test came, they showed he was free of the deadly respiratory virus that has killed close to two million people globally.
Overjoyed, Musasiwa, an entrepreneur, shared the good news with his friends on Facebook.
“Negative. Thank you God,” he wrote.
But his joyous triumph would be short-lived as his condition began to worsen.
By Chris Muronzi
Harare, Zimbabwe – Exhibiting symptoms synonymous with COVID-19, Kuda Musasiwa, a 43-year-old father of four, immediately got tested for the infectious disease. When the results of the laboratory swab test came, they showed he was free of the deadly respiratory virus that has killed close to two million people globally.
Overjoyed, Musasiwa, an entrepreneur, shared the good news with his friends on Facebook.
“Negative. Thank you God,” he wrote.
But his joyous triumph would be short-lived as his condition began to worsen.
“The result of that test was a false negative,” Roy Musasiwa, Kuda’s father, told Al Jazeera in a telephone interview. With each passing day, Musasiwa saw his son’s medical condition deteriorate.