BY RICHARD MUPONDE/ LORRAINE MUROMO/PHYLLIS MBANJE/HARRIET CHIKANDIWA ZIMBABWE’s COVID-19 dilemma is likely to escalate if serious precautions to prevent its further spread are not taken, with official statistics yesterday revealing that one person is dying every hour in the country due to the respiratory disease, health experts have said. Currently, the daily infection rate has reached the 1 000 mark, as the second wave of COVID-19 ravages the country. Statistics by the Health and Child Care ministry on Wednesday showed that on the day, the country recorded 38 new deaths and 1 017 new infections. This took the death tally to 589 and total infections to 24 256. The recovery rate has plummeted to 56,3% from around 94% early November 2020, and the positivity rate is 29%, and 10 000 active cases. As the virus spreads, reports yesterday by the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association (MDPPZA) warned that hospitals were running out of oxygen due to an increased demand. “With this wave, demand for oxygen is on the rise since most of the COVID-19 patients are suffering from shortness of breath. We are losing many patients due to shortages of oxygen,” MDPPZA president Johannes Marisa told NewsDay yesterday. Another health expert and Mpilo Central Hospital acting chief executive officer, Solwayo Ngwenya, said the figures by the Health ministry were “controlled”, adding that more people than those recorded could actually be dying from the coronavirus. “The Zimbabwean figures are controlled, and so we are only commenting on a figure that has been published. There are many people who are dying of COVID-19 and some of them are said to be negative because we are using a narrow diagnostic criteria, whereby you are only recorded if you are PCR [polymerase chain reaction] positive or RTA positive,” Ngwenya said. “There are people with clear signs and symptoms and also radiological x-rays that show they are positive, but they are not recorded. From the official figures published yesterday (Thursday) of 38 deaths in 24 hours, that actually shows you that at least one person is dying every hour,” he said. Ngwenya said partying and the opening up of borders without strict measures during the festive season could have worsened the COVID-19 situation “We are yet to see the worst to come from this virus. Disaster is looming. People must keep safe or else we are going to see a lot of tears, burials, families losing breadwinners, businesses closed, and other terrible things ahead,” he said. “People must follow the advice of social distancing and masking up, as well as avoiding crowded places and organising illegal parties.” The sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 infections came as government disclosed plans to craft a vaccination policy to deal with the pandemic. The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) said that in order for the COVID-19 vaccination policy to work effectively, the government and other relevant stakeholders should provide it for free, especially to the most vulnerable groups.