HARARE – Nurses at the Sally Mugabe Hospital in Harare stopped work on Thursday morning after a senior nurse died of Covid-19.

Matron Miriam Pundu fell sick after working a shift on Sunday, before succumbing to the respiratory illness.

The nurses from the hospital’s maternity wing said they would not go back to work until they were provided with sufficient protective personal equipment (PPE) to work safely.

The hospital said it had declared its antenatal ward a “red zone” and shut it down to allow for fumigation procedures.

Sources at the hospital said seven health workers and 15 expecting mothers had tested positive for Covid-19.

The nurses who gathered outside the hospital’s entrance were addressed by principal nursing officer Lucy Godzongere, who aggressively accused them of overreacting.

“What’s the fuss about?” she said. “Mukuda kuonererwa (you think you’re special cases).”

After her rant, Godzongere said she had no idea about the available PPE and would be asking her superiors to ramp up deliveries.

Doctors and nurses at the hospital said they were only given a mask each everyday – hardly cover for health workers working at a major hospital treating hundreds of patients daily.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said the finance ministry was in breach of a court order to supply every health worker with PPE.

On Wednesday, the Zimbabwe Nurses Association had sounded the alarm over nurses forced to work at the same hospital even after coming into contact with Covid-19 patients, or exhibiting symptoms.

“There is massive panic amongst our colleagues at the hospital, particularly nurses working at casualty and it’s a pity that most nurses are testing positive for Covid and nothing is being done, and this is being kept secret by management,” ZINA said in a communique to nurses seen by ZimLive.

“There is a disturbing development which is taking place behind the scenes. Nurses’ results that are positive are being delayed to be released or they are manipulated to be negative. Covid is real and is killing. We cannot keep quiet and be sacrificed by people who don’t care about our welfare.”

Samson Tafadzwa Gurupira, ZINA’s organising secretary, told ZimLive that nurses are being threatened and victimised.

“The Covid-19 situation at the hospital is dire. A lot of nurses are coming to my inbox saying they’re having symptoms. There is one Matron Guduza at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital who went to the Staff Clinic today and instructed the doctor not to give sick leave to nurses who are not feeling well, although most of them have Covid-19 symptoms.

“One of the nurses collapsed at work after being told to go back to work. This matron was at the forefront when nurses apologised to the government for going on strike.”

Nurses who spoke on condition of anonymity told of a culture of bullying by management.

“Even if we go for PCR testing, you won’t get the results and a junior doctor who is conducting the tests is instructed not to give us the results. I’m feeling the symptoms myself but I’m told to report to work because they’re saying who else will do the work,” one nurse said.

Sally Mugabe Hospital Clinical Director Hopewell Mugani said Covid-19 infections are present at the health facility among staff members.

“Covid-19 is in our community, it’s no longer coming from outside. Covid-19 symptoms or cases are occurring amongst patients and staff. We’re trying to manage the situation on the ground. This pandemic is at its peak and whenever our staff is showing some symptoms, we advise them to isolate.”

He insisted that most of the complaints were “coming from nurses who are taking advantage of the pandemic because they don’t want to go to work.”

“We’re making sure everything is under control, tests are being done on staff,” he maintained.