Government Biggest Concern Now Widespread Community Spread Of COVID-19
The government has said that its biggest concern on COVID-19 currently is the widespread community spread, which is being exacerbated by the poor adherence to public health guidelines by most people.
Minister of Health Dr.Jonas Chanda however stated that his ministry is working day and night to address this.
Speaking during the COVID-19 routine update in Lusaka today, Dr. Chanda disclosed that the Ministry is carrying out contact tracing within the communities in order to break the chain of transmission and has since encouraged all well-meaning Zambians to disclose to their close contacts once they test positive for COVID-19.
He noted that this will greatly aid government’s efforts to reach as many potentially infected people and ensure the spread is halted.
The Minister also disclosed that his ministry is working in collaboration with the IBA, MISA, private media houses and other partners to produce educational programmes for radio and television, and will continue to speak with a common voice on all platforms.
Dr. Chanda who is also Bwana Mkubwa Member of Parliament is delighted that traditional leaders from all Provinces have strogly indicated that they will set the precedent in their respective chiefdoms to ensure adherence to the set guidelines.
“Furthermore, they have pledged their unwavering support for the mandatory wearing of facemasks if Government introduces that,” Dr. Chanda said.
Meanwhile, Dr Chanda disclosed that the Zambian government, under the leadership of his Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, through the Ministry of Health is working with a consortium of experts including the UNZA School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, JICA, PATH, Public Health England and the CDC to carry out genomic sequencing of the Corona Virus which will provide key information on the characteristics of the virus strains in circulation in the country and inform vaccine choices acquisition and deployment mechanisms.
The Minister also stated that government is closely following the global developments around the new virus strains (variants) and reduced efficacy on the vaccines like the case of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine in South Africa.
And giving an update on the COVID-19 situation, Dr. Chanda said the has in the last 24 hours recorded One Thousand and Thirty-Seven (1,037) new cases out of 6,173 tests conducted.
This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases recorded to date to 64,610.
He also announced that Twelve (12) new deaths were reported from Copperbelt (5), Lusaka (5), Central (1), and Northern (1) provinces.
The cumulative number of COVID-19 related deaths recorded to date now stands at 881, classified as 443 COVID deaths and 438 COVID-19 associated deaths.
Meanwhile, the country recorded an additional 1,990 discharges from both home management and COVID-19 isolation facilities, bringing the cumulative number of recoveries to 58,319.
This article originally appeared on Lusaka Times