The government has dismissed media reports claiming that Bulawayo is under intensified lockdown measures which include a 6pm to 6am curfew order.
Addressing juornalists in Harare on Friday, Health and Child Care Deputy Minister John Mangwiro advised that only the Presidium announces such lockdown developments. Mangwiro said:
I heard there are certain sections of the media purporting that Bulawayo is under lockdown.
This is not correct. This statement is purporting that Nkulumane, Pelandaba, Emganwini, Sizinda, Emakhandeni, Cowdray Park, Pumula, and others are under lockdown. This is not correct.
If there is going to be a lockdown, I would like to advise the public, such an announcement would be made by the Head of State who is the President Dr E.D. Mnangagwa or anyone he would have designated or the Minister of Health and Child Care or anyone designated to do that on his behalf.
So this is not correct because the legal instruments are not in place, these have not been put in place, there is no legal basis for all this.
So I would like to dismiss the statement that is making rounds on social media and if there is going to be such a thing, the public will be told at the appropriate time.
READ MORE: Police Impose Dusk To Dawn Curfew On Bulawayo
This comes after Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube was this week quoted in the media saying effective Friday (yesterday), police would be deployed to monitor compliance. He said:
Business hours is now between 8AM– 3PM meaning that all shops and businesses in town must close at that time and this applies to the rest of the suburbs that have been declared hotspots.
We are calling for maximum cooperation from members of the public so that we see this phase passing smoothly.