GOVERNMENT has approved the reopening of churches but only for fully vaccinated congregants.
It has also sent out teams to assess the possibility of reopening of schools while hotels have been allowed to purchase vaccines for their employees in a raft of measures meant to ease the current Covid-19 lockdown.
The measures were announced by Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa during the weekly Tuesday’s post-cabinet press briefing.
“Cabinet wishes to inform the public that churches can now allow sit in congregants under the condition that only congregants who have received two doses of the vaccine are allowed to attend,” Mutsvangwa said.
“All ministry of health and who protocols have to be adhered to and those found in breach will be arrested including leaders of churches,” she said, adding: “Private companies, that is hotels and other institutions, can access, upon payment of requisite fees to the Health ministry, vaccines on the provision that they seek authority from the ministry for qualified persons to conduct the vaccination of their staff and/or patrons. Special care should also be taken to ensure that standard equipment is used for vaccination.”
Under the current Level 4 lockdown, government had shutdown all religious gatherings.
The new regulations might spur greater vaccine uptake as some people have remained hesitant.
On the reopening of schools, Mutsvangwa said: “Assessments on the state of preparedness for the safe re-opening of schools is ongoing across all provinces. The ministry of primary and secondary education has redoubled efforts towards the provision of tents, additional furniture, reliable water sources, ablution facilities and the decongestion of teacher accommodation.”
Teachers recently said their members are psychologically unprepared to return to work as most of them have not been vaccinated. They said reopening schools under the current circumstances was tantamount to sentencing them and learners to death.