HARARE, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube is fretting over the emergence of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, which may lead to another hard national lockdown if it proves to be as potent as previous variants.

Ncube said he hoped that the effects of the new variant would not get to previous levels which had led to the lockdowns which had in turn had a negative impact on the economy.

There have been 29,665 infections during the first 11 days of December amid fears that the fourth wave, which coincided with the emergence of the new variant, could end up affecting more people and resulting in more deaths than the previous three waves.

During hard lockdowns, there is minimal production in industries as authorities impose curfews and restrictions on the number of people at the workplace at any given time.

They also limit local and intercity and cross-border travel, thereby disrupting business operations, including domestic and international tourism.

The government-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper quoted Ncube telling delegates at the launch of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC)'s inaugural State of Industry and Commerce Survey 2021, that he prayed the pandemic would not get to the previous levels.

"Our current major threat is the COVID-19 pandemic situation. It is our hope that the current wave does not get bad enough to warrant further lockdowns which are counter-productive to the economy," he said.

"On our part, we have so far spent 204 million U.S. dollars on procurement of 17 million vaccines and syringes, most of which was financed through budget savings of 100 million dollars from the previous year," he said.

Most of the vaccines have been procured from China, either as donations from the Chinese government or direct purchases.

The ZNCC industry and commerce survey implored the government to maintain the momentum in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign towards achieving herd immunity to reduce the need for frequent lockdowns.

ZNCC vice president Mike Kamungeremu implored business to be innovative in the face of the pandemic.

Economist Eddie Cross said although the variant was weak to warrant stringent lockdowns like the ones before it, it would still cause disruptive effects to the economy.

"The COVID-19 remains a threat to the global economy, but we have experienced worst variants as compared to this one. The current wave is infectious but mild, so I don't see the country going to the previous position where stringent lockdowns were instituted," he said. Enditem

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