COVID-19: Wearing Of Masks No Longer Mandatory - Govt
The Government has said it is no longer mandatory for people to wear face masks indoors, a requirement that has been in place since 2020 to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
However, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education says learners should continue wearing masks and practising social distancing.
The lifting of the mask mandate comes after the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday declared that COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency of international concern.
National COVID-19 task force coordinator Dr. Agnes Mahomva said people are still encouraged to wear face masks in poorly ventilated areas. She said:
Cabinet specifically dropped the mandatory wearing of face masks but specifically recommended that we must still wear face masks if we are in a place that is at high risk of spreading COVID-19.
That is what Zimbabwe is doing and in line with the recommendations of WHO and in line with what we have learned in the country.
We must remain vigilant. Cabinet removed the mandatory aspect but strongly recommended that if you are at high risk, if you are in a crowded space, if you are in a poorly ventilated places, it recommends that you wear your masks in line with the new normal.
WHO announced that COOVID-19 is no longer a public emergency but if you go on the same statement, they go on to specifically to urge countries to remain vigilant as COVID-19 is not yet over.
Based on that, nations should remain vigilant and be vigilant in line with what we have seen and based on our experiences adopting a new normal.
New normal means we are not going back to where we were before COVID-19.
A new normal means institutionalising those best practices that we have been doing and successes that we have recommended and making sure that we remain vigilant.
Before the latest development, it was mandatory for everyone to wear masks in public places, including shops, churches, markets, and public transportation.
Failure to comply with the mask mandate resulted in fines or other penalties.
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