Government’s Mixed Signals On Covid

The number of cases of Covid-19 is surging and has reached 6,580. These are just confirmed cases and the real total is likely to be much higher. To date 171 deaths have been recorded and while more than 70% of cases are still located in Lusaka and Copperbelt province, the Ministry of Health has confirmed that the pandemic has spread to almost every part of the country.  

While the Health Minister Dr Chitalu Chilufya stresses the importance of following the guidance set out by his department, the message from Government is increasingly confused. 

For some time now there have been accusations that the PF is using the rules and restrictions to its advantage, to shut down gatherings and meetings of opposition and civil society groups.  

There has also been criticism of Government’s decision to press ahead with some events that bring together large numbers of people, potentially exposing them to the virus. 

The commissioning of the Chawama flyover bridge has become the latest focal point for such critics. 

Civil society activist and Alliance for Community Action (ACA) director Laura Miti has condemned the event writing, “It is impossible to overstate how reckless President Lungu and the PF were during the opening of the Makeni Flyover Bridge.” 

“Impossible to overstate the extent to which COVID will spread due to that one event, ensuring that scores, if not hundreds, at the event and very far from it, will now contract the disease and possibly die,” she continues. 

“As a colleague said, the President and his government decided to use the bridge opening to send a message to the public they have been repeating. It says - you do not have to obey health guidelines,” Miti writes. 

Miti also points out the seriousness of the situation given the shortage of tests and the long delays to results in many cases. She notes the private hospitals are charging over 1,000 a test, meaning the majority of Zambians cannot afford a test but Covid centres are only admitting those with confirmed results. 

“It is in those dire circumstances that President Lungu gathered crowds of poor people to watch him open some bridge - and catch COVID 19,” Miti states.