Lungu To Close Nakonde Border After Spike in Covid-19 Cases

President Edgar Lungu has directed for the Nakonde border with Tanzania to be closed from Monday 11th May to allow for mass Covid-19 screening after a recent spike in cases.

Speaking on Sunday’s Covid-19 update, Health Minister Dr Chitalu Chilufya said the border closure would also allow for contact tracing and other measures to avoid the further spread of the virus from Nakonde, which has now become an epicentre of the outbreak.

85 new cases have been reported in the border town, 76 of which were either sex workers or lorry drivers, Dr Chilufya disclosed. 

The health minister went on to praise sex workers at the border for their help in allowing authorities to trace people who may have contracted the virus.

“Sex workers ave been very co-operative and they are giving us all the leads we want”, Dr Chilufya said.  

Further figures of Nakande cases are expected to be given on Monday afternoon, with the health minister maintaining that the government is being transparent with the figures.

“We have no business playing around with numbers, we have no business of not being transparent because that does not add value to the COVID-19 response,” he said. 

Meanwhile, in Lusaka, 15 new cases have been recorded over the weekend from 250 tests. The total figure for Zambia now stands at 267 confirmed cases, with 7 deaths. 

Sex workers in Nakonde [Photo: AFP]