BY MOSES MATENGA/PHYLLIS MBANJE/ LORRAINE MUROMO/SILENCE MUGADZAWETA HEALTH professionals have accused government of allegedly concealing COVID-19 statistics in the country to give the impression that the virulent disease was under control at a time it has ballooned out of control, with nurses and doctors having been turned into “super spreaders”of the deadly virus. Dozens of doctors and nurses recently reportedly tested positive to the COVID-19 virus, while others have since succumbed to the respiratory disease. The country is currently grappling with the soaring numbers of COVID-19 infections that have risen to 33 548 and 1 234 deaths as of Monday. The Zimbabwe Senior Doctors Association, in a statement yesterday, said the pandemic had become a vicious robber to the medical fraternity where it has killed several frontline workers. “COVID-19 has been a vicious robber to the medical fraternity in Zimbabwe this year. We mourn our specialist surgeon brother Tendai Mutwira barely a week after losing Professor James Hakim,” the senior doctors said. Bulawayo-based medical doctor, Cherifa Sururu also succumbed to COVID-19, while there were reports that 66 members of staff at Chinhoyi General Hospital tested positive to the virus this week. Zimbabwe Nurses Association president Enock Dongo said it was heart-breaking that the government continued to ignore a High Court order compelling it to provide health professionals with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and other necessities to prevent them from contracting the virus during the course of their duties. “We don’t have statistics of how many nurses nationally have been infected and affected by COVID-19. They (government) don’t want to give us that (statistics),” Dongo said. “When we talk of COVID-19, everyone with a problem converges at a hospital. The same health workers exposed to COVID-19 use Zupco buses on their way home, they use the same supermarkets with the rest of the people, and they go home to interact with tenants and family. “You find that health workers are now the super spreaders of COVID-19, and without addressing the issue of protecting health workers through reducing the hours spent at hospitals and giving them proper PPEs, we are not going to succeed in controlling COVID-19,” he said. Dongo said most hospitals and clinics had closed because they were struggling to cope with pressure. “This has all been caused by the defiance of the High Court order by the (Health and Child Care) secretary (Jasper Chimedza) to decongest hospitals.” He warned that the few health centres operating would soon result in the majority of their workforce being in quarantine. “The moment you protect the health workers, you will be protecting the nation because their numbers to different locations, using public transport and spreading COVID-19. Those are simple things that a normal person should look into.” Teclar Barangwe, member of the Medical Workers’ Union said private health institutions were also neglecting their workers, adding that one of the private clinics in