COVID-19: Mayor of Chimoio promises to adapt, not remove disinfection tunnels – Watch

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COVID-19: Mayor of Chimoio promises to adapt, not remove disinfection tunnels – Watch

2:26 CAT | 26 May 2020

Chimoio Municipal Council Building, Mozambique. [Photo: Voa Portugues]

Three days after Maputo advised against the use of disinfection tunnels, Chimoio’s mayor João Ferreira said, on Monday, May 25, that he would not decommission the six examples installed in the city, but would instead adapt them as part of the Covid-19 prevention efforts underway in the capital of Manica province.

The tunnels will instead be used for washing hands and disinfecting residents’ shoes.

Washing your hands frequently remains the best method of prevention, so the tunnels’ sprayers will be turned into taps in order to “continue to do prevention” and “value what has been given to us”, Ferreira said.

“The tunnels in Chimoio were financed by businesspeople, and we cannot throw away their splendid contribution,” Mayor Ferreira told a press conference after an extraordinary council meeting.

The mayor also announced the commencement of a massive screening initiative involving temperature measurement, in addition to the distribution of masks to residents at the tunnel sites.

Chimoio was the first Mozambican city to install disinfection tunnels after the Mozambican government declared a state of emergency in April, later extended until 30 May.

Maputo advised against the use of disinfection tunnels after the technical-scientific commission advising the government concluded that they did not prevent contamination with the new coronavirus and could be harmful to health.

Mozambican Health Minister Armindo Tiago advised against spraying people, warning that it does not prevent infection, can be harmful, and may encourage a false sense of security.

A day after the announcement, the mayor of Beira, Mozambique’s second-largest, announced the deactivation of the eight tunnels under municipal management there.

Mozambique yesterday recorded its first death from Covid-19. The country has 209 cases, 41 of which were diagnosed in the last two days, the largest numbers of daily infections since the start of the pandemic.

Source: Voa Portugues / Lusa