Cop pens song to raise awareness on Covid-19

Gibson Mhaka
APART from enforcing lockdown measures to halt the spread of Covid-19, four Bulawayo-based police officers have also penned a single titled Dziviriro Yakanaka as a zero-cost way to spread awareness and lifesaving information about the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

The lyrics remind the public that Covid-19 is a serious threat while repeatedly instructing the listeners to never take their health for granted.

The 2.5 minute-long song which is dense in information about the spread and prevention of Covid-19 and comes with an animated video was recorded in four languages which are English, Shona, Ndebele and Shangani.

Despite their hectic work schedule, the quartet, Assistant Inspector Maxwell Thomas Nyandoro stationed at Drill Hall, Sergeant Hault Mucheni, Traffic West Bulawayo, Constables Ray Mutizwa and Daniel Mbiza stationed at Ross Camp and Donnington respectively found time to pen a song to educate and alert the public about Covid-19.

In the song the quartet exhorts people to regularly wash their hands, keep a distance and stay at home as a way of stemming the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

In an interview with B-Metro, Asst Insp Nyandoro said he and his colleagues were jolted into coming up with the song by the carefree attitude by some people at a time when the nation needed all the seriousness in the fight against Covid-19.

“As police officers we discovered that some people were still ignorant of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic especially when we meet them in town. Instead of them expecting the force to be used to compel compliance, we decided to educate them in a way that we think they may understand better and that is through music.

“This is because everyone can listen to music. We also realised that people always assume that police officers use force to ensure compliance and that is why we thought we can do it in a different way to debunk that assumption.

The quartet also uses the song to give practical advice such as washing of hands, keeping away from other people, good hygiene and good mental health habits in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.

In the video, the four cops are dancing to the song, with choreography that demonstrated how to properly wash one’s hands, keep social distancing, coughing or sneezing into your elbow as a way of avoiding the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Meanwhile, studies have shown that in relation to interventions to combat the spread of health pandemics such as Covid-19, music can create awareness about a disease while also providing psychosocial support to victims. It is also a mechanism for counselling which can also raise awareness among the people on how to prevent the disease.

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