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Zimbabwe’s universities are manufacturing masks, gloves and hand sanitizers to beat coronavirus

Zimbabwe’s universities are manufacturing masks, gloves and hand sanitizers to beat coronavirus

Zimbabwe’s spiral into economic chaos and uncertainty over the last decade has left the country with few functioning industries and an over-reliance on imports of nearly everything from food and furniture to building materials and even toothpicks. The economic upheaval and notorious hyperinflation has decimated much of the country’s manufacturing base which in previous decades had been supported by its higher learning institutions. Now that the country has been put on a 21-day lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus after reporting eight Covid-19 cases and one death, the country has had to look within as it can’t compete on the global open market for imported gloves, masks and hand sanitizers given the huge demand.