In Zimbabwe’s overcrowded prisons, fear of COVID-19 spreads

An inmate looks on from the same prison vehicle as Marry Mubaiwa, the wife of Zimbabwe vice-president Constantino Chiwenga, as she leaves the Harare Magistrate’s Court, on December 16, 2019, where she was charged with attempted murder of the vice president, fraud and money laundering. – Anti-corruption officers detained 38-year-old Marry Mubaiwa, the wife of vice-president Constantine Guvheya Nyikadzino Chiwenga, on December 14, 2019, according to a police report. (Photo by Jekesai NJIKIZANA / AFP)  Harare, Zimbabwe – Behind bars and confined in a tight space shared by dozens of other detainees, Zimbabwean opposition leader Jacob Ngarivhume was anxious about catching coronavirus.  Designed to hold 16 people, the crammed cells at the Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison were full with more than 40 people, he said.  “I was very afraid I would contract COVID-19 because the cells were overcrowded,” said Ngarivhume, who spent 43 days in detention for organising outlawed anti-government protests in late July.  “If prison authorities had observed social distancing rules of a metre (3.3 feet) apart, the cell would have accommodated only 10 people.”  Instead, he said, detainees were barely 30cm (12 inches) apart. At night, the inmates at the small facility on the outskirts of the capital, Harare, spread filthy and lice-infested blankets on the hard concrete floor, forming elongated rows for going to sleep.  “You could literally smell the breath of the next guy,” said Ngarivhume, who was charged with inciting violence and freed on bail in his fourth attempt earlier this month. Jacob Ngarivhume leads a small opposition party, Transform Zimbabwe [File: AFP]  With physical distancing virtually impossible, and major shortages in essential items to protect against COVID-19 such as soaps, hand sanitisers and clean face masks, Zimbabwe’s prison population is at great risk of being exposed to the highly infectious disease, according to experts.Already, some cases have been recorded.  In late July, 43 inmates and 23 prison officers tested positive for the highly infectious respiratory disease in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city.  In facilities based in Harare and elsewhere, no cases have officially been confirmed. But two former detainees at Chikurubi said several people tested positive last month when authorities decided to conduct random tests. “In the hall where I was staying, there were 10 cells housing inmates,” according to Ngarivhume. “Prison authorities randomly selected an inmate for COVID-19 testing from the 10 cells. Of the 10 who were tested, seven were positive for COVID-19.”  But with “no quarantine facilities … they put them back in the cells”, said Ngarivhume, adding that this took place in the week before his release on September 2.  Questions sent days before the publication of this article to Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) spokeswoman Meya Khanyezi were not responded to. Additional efforts to get a comment were unsuccess