BY MOSES MATENGA/ PHYLIS MBANJE/ PRAISEMORE SITHOLE/GARIKAI TUNHIRA NURSES at major public hospitals in Harare and Bulawayo downed tools yesterday for fear of contracting the deadly COVID-19 virus after being forced to work without personal protective equipment (PPE). The work stoppage, which is likely to plunge the health delivery system into turmoil given the recent countrywide surge in COVID-19 cases, came after a matron at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital in Harare reportedly succumbed to the killer disease on Wednesday. Sally Mugabe Hospital maternity nurses vowed yesterday that they would not risk working without PPE, amid claims that seven staff members and 15 patients had also tested positive for COVID-19. When NewsDay visited the hospital early yesterday morning, the nurses said the now-deceased, Miriam Pundu, was on duty on Sunday mingling with other staff and patients, but was later taken ill after exhibiting COVID-19-related symptoms. “She was admitted for a day, but sadly passed away,” an official at the hospital said. It emerged that nurses at the hospital’s maternity ward were being forced to admit COVID-19 positive expecting mothers even without appropriate PPE as stipulated by the World Health Organisation. The midwives said they only had plastic aprons and surgical masks as protective clothing at a time COVID-19 is threatening to overwhelm both public and private hospitals, with Harare recording a new high of 777 cases on Tuesday, and accounting for 10 of the 34 deaths recorded on the same day. The capital, which has become the country’s COVID-19 epicentre, has cumulatively reported 5 872 cases since March last year. Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZiNA) president Enock Dongo said the situation was now untenable. “This is what we have been saying all along. The government is not ready. Health workers are being infected with COVID-19,” Dongo said. He said all PPE had been concentrated at Parirenyatwa Red Zone, a designated COVID-19 centre. Dongo said at Sally Mugabe Hospital, every ward now had COVID-19 patients and they could not be transferred to Parirenyatwa Red Zone, which was also overwhelmed. “COVID-19 patients are everywhere and nurses are now being forced to handle these cases without adequate PPE,” he said. “Nurses are sick and the staff clinic is attending to between 80 to 100 health workers per day.” Dongo said this was a catastrophe of unimaginable levels as patients were being tended by sick nurses. “So patients who come with ordinary ailments are now at risk of contracting COVID-19 from the nurses,” he said. Sally Mugabe Hospital acting chief executive officer Christopher Pasi could not immediately comment on the matter, saying he was busy, while hospital spokesperson Juliet Chikurunhe was unreachable on her mobile phone. Health and Child Care deputy minister John Mangwiro’s phone was also not reachable. In Bulawayo, there were fears of soaring COVID-19 cases at Mpilo Central Hospital after some nurses exhibited symptoms of the deadly virus. A nurse said there were fears that the health worke