IT is now over seven months since the coronavirus (COVID-19) was discovered in China with most countries introducing suppression measures in the first quarter of the year. Zimbabwe, like most countries in Africa, introduced a nationwide lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus in March. Nonetheless the virus continues to spread, albeit at a steady rate, but more people are becoming poorer faster with some starving due to the disruption of the economic activities caused by premature measures that were not informed by local context. Given that only more than 560 cases have been reported in roughly four months of lockdown shows that there is a greater chance of more people dying of COVID-19-induced hunger than the virus. While these measures, largely copy and paste from other countries, seemed the most appropriate thing to do, they lacked strategic thinking to align them to local context. For this thoughtless approach, the majority of the people have been pushed into tough situations where they are caught between staying at home and starving or risk catching the virus while bringing food on the table. Balancing between public health and economic concern is the major headache facing most governments and a burning issue for Zimbabwe as well. While searching for answers to escape this trap is urgent, it may be necessary to look back and draw lessons on what could have been done better. Zimbabwe recorded its first COVID-19 case on March 21, a male resident of Victoria Falls who travelled back from the United Kingdom via South Africa on March 15. Two more cases were confirmed on March 21, both in Harare. On March 23, the country confirmed its first COVID-19-related death. All these cases were imported and it was clear then that by mid-March the country was still COVID-19 free. We had a good chance early March to close the borders and permit cargo only to enter the country, and that way there was no need to impose the premature nationwide lockdown as early as March 30. It means whatever remained in terms of the economy could have been preserved and continued unimpeded by premature lockdowns possibly until today while adjustments were being made. Even after the cases were announced, the question still remains: was a nationwide lockdown necessary? The first cases had shown that only border areas and major cities such as Harare and Bulawayo were exposed at the time with the rest of the country still COVID-free. The ideal first step was to either lockdown these places or restrict unnecessary intercity movements. This would have ensured that unaffected areas were shielded while allowing their economic activities to continue. Why did the rural folks have to endure a nationwide lockdown when most of them live in a naturally social-distanced environment? The lack of strategic thought meant that economic activity in areas of less COVID-19 concern were crippled by premature nationwide lockdown. This is why we are at the point where social distancing and stay-at-home regulations are becoming more damaging than COVID-19 itself, f