Government Concerned Over Growing Covid-19 Admissions

Health Minister Sylvia Masebo has said she is concerned by the rise in the number of hospital admissions resulting from Covid-19 infections over the past week.

At a press conference, the minister said that infections across the country were still low, with 471 new cases in the week just ended – down from 519 cases in the previous seven days. This represents a 9% decrease, with just three deaths from the disease across the two week period. 

However, Ms Masebo added that “on a worrying note, we had more persons getting admitted for Covid-19 complications this past week, with 22 new admissions compared to 17 last week. Our overall national positivity for the week remained stable at 4% for a third consecutive week.”

The minister said that the Ministry of Health had also identified clusters of cases in some schools, including David Kaunda STEM Secondary School in Lusaka and Hillcrest Technical Secondary School.

“We are pleased that management in these affected places have quickly notified health authorities hence the quick action and controlled outcome. May I take this opportunity to urge all organisations including places of worship, schools, businesses houses to quickly report any increase in respiratory infections and indeed any other infectious diseases to the health authorities for quick action” she advised.

In the past 24 hours, Zambia has recorded 55 new Covid-19 cases from 950 tests – a positivity rate of 6%. Approximately 31% of the population has now received a vaccine, with some districts recording over 50% of inhabitants being fully vaccinated.