The National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO) has stated that the closure of banks during the 21-day lockdown in Zimbabwe due to Covid-19 will leave the vulnerable badly exposed. The association noted that the complete closure of the banks has crippled the work of their members as they need money to carry out their work.

In a statement, NANGO said that ‘the humanitarian sector needs to procure in large quantities commodities needed to help prevent the spread of [Covid-19] for rural and urban communities and health centres. Pharmacies need to import medicines that are critical not only in the fight against [Covid-19] but also for chronic illnesses that affect a significant population in Zimbabwe.

‘Civil society organisations in the women’s sector need to procure sanitary wear for underprivileged women that depend on NGOs to provide these for free. Citizens did not have ample time to prepare for the lockdown and need to restock food and other essentials. This necessitates some of them to transact in banking halls’, they added.

NANGO has therefore asked that banks should open for at least four hours a day to serve their clients and that the banking halls must be manned by personnel equipped with personal protective equipment.

‘All banks should ensure that people queue a meter apart and depending on the size, a banking hall should not have more than 10 people at a time. All banks should provide at all entry and exit points hand sanitiser that has at least 60 percent alcohol. There should be clear signage at all bank entrances discouraging people showing [Covid-19] symptoms from accessing the bank’, they advised.

Source: One News Page

Photo source: Gigijin