Talent Chimutambgi
Herald Reporter
The Cycle for Cause team led by Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Raj Modi, which cycled 440km from Bulawayo to Harare to raise awareness on Covid-19, arrived in the capital city yesterday, three days ahead of schedule.
The team, made up of 12 professional cyclists, left Bulawayo last Friday soon after the campaign was officially launched by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also Health and Child Care Minister, arrived in Harare just after 2pm yesterday and was met by Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza in front of Parliament Building.
The team, which was accompanied by a truck carrying a PA system to raise awareness to people, stopped over in Shangani, Gweru, Kwekwe, Kadoma, Chegutu, Selous and Norton, where health experts addressed people on Covid-19 preventative measures and the need to adhere to them.
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In an interview with The Herald soon after their arrival, Deputy Minister Modi said he was happy they had achieved their objective of reminding members of the public of the dangers that the pandemic pose and the prevention measures.
He also hailed the overwhelming support they got in every town and other cyclists who joined them for part of the journey which saw their number increasing to 20.
Apart from raising awareness on Covid-19, Deputy Minister Modi said they also donated food in every city and town they cycled past.
“We embarked on this cycling campaign from Bulawayo up to here to sensitise people on the need to mask up and stay safe from Covid-19. We were not only cycling, but we were doing so for a noble cause,” he said. “I am very happy with the support we received during the campaign as some of the people would join us. We had people from Gweru who accompanied us up to Selous.”
He said the campaign will officially end at Makoni Shopping Centre in Chitungwiza tomorrow.
The chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Retired Major Mathias Tongofa thanked the cyclists for their effort to help reduce the spread of Covid-19.
“You have done a great job for reminding the people to safeguard their lives through conforming to the Covid-19 prevention guidelines,” said Rtd Maj Tongofa.
“The worrying trend emerging in America and Europe, where there is a second wave of the pandemic, serves as a warning to African countries, and particularly Zimbabwe, to maintain the prevailing anti-Covid-19 measures,” he said.
The United States, Britain and other Western countries have started recording a second wave of Covid-19 at a time when the pandemic’s global death toll has surpassed 1,2 million, with 50 million people infected.
Experts fear that the second wave of the infection could be more devastating than the first.
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– HERALD
