The Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association (Zela) has urged the government to focus more on giving back to the artisanal and small-scale mining sector during the coronavirus-induced lockdown by ring-fencing gold royalties to fund personal protective clothing and hand sanitisers. The association said there is a need for the government to facilitate “capacity building programmes for ASM players on safety, health and environment to help remove the culture of non-compliance with public health, safety and environment standards and in particular the use of the PPE and applicable laws.” Meanwhile the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) is working on coming up with initiatives of mitigating against unprecedented production loss by artisanal and small-scale miners in the wake of the coronavirus  outbreak