DJs cry out for help, Zimbabwe arrests journalist and opposition leader ahead of protests ﹘ catch these and other headlines below.
1. Local headlines
Lesotho has adopted the Susceptible Infected Recovered (SIR) Model to manage the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. This was announced by Prime Minister Dr. Moeketsi Majoro during Saturday’s national address.
He stated that the model shall be a guiding policy as the country aims to flatten the curve of infections and to raise the line of the health-care system capacity to reduce the likelihood of needless deaths. This guiding policy is pursued by targeting a basic reproduction number, (Ro) that is below 1. The Ro is the number of people that an infected person infects during the time that they are infectious.
At the moment he said Lesotho is on the orange colour of the scale wherein an infected Mosotho infects 2 or more people before recovery or death and the next possible destination could be red. He said one of the immediate means to contain this situation is to ban movement between districts, limit weddings attendants number to 5 and have only family members and 10 labourers at funerals.
[Lesotho adopts new strategy against Covid-19, Informative News]
2. Local headlines
PSI Lesotho, with the support of the Ministry of Health, believes that with the current pandemic of COVID-19, it is more important than ever for Basotho to continue to access various HIV services and to know their status, whilst still maintaining recommended standards and behaviors of social distancing in order to minimize the risk of spread for COVID-19.
With the generosity of UNITAID, PSI Lesotho and the Lesotho Ministry of Health have been involved in a multi-year, regional program, the HIV Self-Testing Africa Initiative (STAR), which encourages and provides kits, for individuals to screen themselves for HIV, using portable Self-Test kits that can be used anywhere by the client as they wish.
HIV-Self Test kits are distributed in partnership with the Ministry of Health and can be accessed free of charge at all major government health facilities, as well as PSI’s New Start sites across various districts in the country.
[HIV Self-Testing should be the new normal in the age of Physical Distancing, The Reporter]
3. Global headlines
Police in Zimbabwe on Monday arrested an opposition leader and an outspoken journalist ahead of anti-government and anti-graft protests planned for 31 July, lawyers said. The two were arrested separately in Harare in a seemingly coordinated operation.
“We confirm both Hopewell Chin’ono and Jacob Ngarivhume are at the law and order section at Harare central police station,” Rose Hanzi, director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights told AFP.There was no immediate comment from the police or government on the arrests.
Chin’ono is an independent award-winning film documentalist who has previously worked for various international news organisations. Ngarivhume is president of a small opposition party, Transform Zimbabwe. He has called on Zimbabweans to protest against state corruption and the deteriorating economic situation on 31 July. The date is the second anniversary of general elections that were tainted by accusations of fraud and were won by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
[Zimbabwe arrests journalist, opposition leader ahead of protests, News24]
4. In lifestyle
The Deejays Association of Lesotho (DJALE) is calling for assistance to help mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected DJs in the country negatively as they were among the first people to close shop and probably will be the last to operate. DJALE is an association of about 215 members which was formed in 2013 by DJs with the aim to promote solidarity among themselves.
Malefetsane Tsoeliane, also known as Dj Daverts told theReporter that they have written to a couple of ministries, non-governmental organisations and companies to intervene in the plight of DJs who need immediate assistance.
“The industry has been left to its own devices; when the government relief fund budget was allocated we were never included or even considered.
DJALE seeks any form of assistance, be it in the form of money or otherwise, because most of the DJs are not able to pay for rentals and are facing eviction from their places of sojourn; they also need food and general essentials like medication and cosmetics.
[DJs cry out for help, The Reporter]
5. What we’re reading
Today we’re reading a Harvard Business Review article that advocates for more research into how workers shift from one industry to another. It’s slightly lengthier than our usual recommendations but we think it’s food for thought, especially right now as many of us contemplate shifting industries because of the pandemic. In the article, Michelle Weise, PhD, reminds us that education and training are important in helping people navigate career paths. Weise further argues that investment into research about how people navigate these shifts is crucial to find existing trends so “ we can reproduce them through more-precise reskilling opportunities optimized for local labor markets and ultimately enable greater career mobility as we recover from the next recession.”
[Research: How Workers Shift from One Industry to Another, Harvard Business Review]