Nurses down tools
BY MOSES MATENGA/ PHYLIS MBANJE/ PRAISEMORE SITHOLE/GARIKAI TUNHIRA
NURSES at major public hospitals in Harare and Bulawayo downed tools yesterday for fear of contracting the deadly COVID-19 virus after being forced to work without personal protective equipment (PPE).
The work stoppage, which is likely to plunge the health delivery system into turmoil given the recent countrywide surge in COVID-19 cases, came after a matron at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital in Harare reportedly succumbed to the killer disease on Wednesday.
Sally Mugabe Hospital maternity nurses vowed yesterday that they would not risk working without PPE, amid claims that seven staff members and 15 patients had also tested positive for COVID-19.