Harare’s major referral hospitals are facing serious water shortages amid a cholera outbreak which has killed more than 31 people in the capital.
Harare Central Hospital is reported to have spent the weekend without water, while Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals had to resort to drawing the resource from its boreholes and storage tanks.
At Harare Central Hospital, relatives were forced to carry water for patients’ basic needs over the weekend. Nyasha Masuka, the hospital’s chief executive officer, confirmed that the institution has been grappling with water shortages as a result of water rationing adopted by the Harare City Council (HCC).
Said Masuka:
The water shortages at Harare Hospital are real and it’s very scary given the cholera outbreak since we are the referral hospital for all these neighbourhoods where we have had the cholera outbreak and also (given that) every woman comes to deliver here because of our free services
