President Edgar Lungu has allowed selected activities to continue being undertaken normally subject to adhering to health regulations and guidelines meant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The President said places of worship may continue to congregate while observing social distancing, mandatory wearing face masks, sanitizing and hand washing guidelines.
President Lungu said sporting activities such as Golf and Tennis which do not involve physical contact between players while the sport is played in non clouded places may begin to be played but bars in such places should remain closed.
In a televised address to the nation on COVID-19 measures, the Head of State also allowed Barbershops and Salons to continue operating but warned that failure to adhere to the health guidelines will attract penalties including the revocation of licenses.
However, the President who could not announce how long the other measures such as the closure of bars, gyms and casinos will remain in force said he will address the nation soon.
And President Lungu said eight additional cases of the coronavirus have been recorded in Zambia in the last 24 hours bringing the cumulative number of cases to 84.
He said four of the cases are from the Community while the other four are health personnel.
President Lungu said 37 patients have recovered from the pandemic while 44 remain under isolation and are in stable condition except one who is being treated for severe malaria.
He said 15 health care workers have so far been infected with COVID-19 while in their line of duty and two have recovered while 13 are stable and remain in high spirit.
And President Lungu has directed the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry to ensure that chain stores prioritise local agricultural products in their localities.
The President says the current COVID-19 situation opens a window of opportunity for Zambian farmers to produce and sell their products to chain stores that for a long time have denied them business and opted for foreign products.
In a televised address to the nation on COVID-19 measures, the President said Chain stores in their respective localities should buy agriculture products from farmers within their areas.
The President said under the circumstances Zambia is in, only products that cannot be sourced from locals should be imported.
Somebody Educate me how Social distance in a barbershop or Saloon, or even in tennis match where you run all over the court and come to the net at breath taking speed. Meanwhile the COVID-19 graph in Zambia has began to rise exponentially and they are talking of easing restrictions. They should have been talking about testing. Less than 400 tests a day is pedestrian to have enough data to make such big decisions. He should also focus on supporting small business.
Actually, focus on cutting load shedding to 2 hours a day and Zambians will eternally thank you. With Electricity People can do things at home. You launch Online Education TV with your Dull ZAMTEL boss for house with Electricity. What is the point. How dull can you get sure
Have we flattened the covid curve for us to be prompted to come up with such measures?
….sporting activities such as Gold….is that a new game?
Comment: it’s not time for politics big man
Okay!!! Lwenu!
Meant to say that How do you launch Only Education TV and broadcast it to Houses that DONT”T HAVE ELECTRICITY FOR 10-15 HOURS? You EXPECT CHILDREN TO WAKE UP at midnight and watch school Education when they are supposed to be asleep. This is the Dullness across the board that am talking about. Surely, you can sensed a chartered flight to China to get the experts supposed to complete the Kafue Gorge Hydro Project by June, bring them in Isolate quarantine them for 14 days and test them and then send them to the site to finsh the Hydro Power Project. The damage lack of power is doing to the economy makes the cost of a chartered flight pedestrian to bring in people that can complete the project.
Coal power stations are easy to build, why have you not scaled up the Maamba coal project. It…
We needed to have drawn lessons from Tanzania. Social distancing in public places has not been seriously adhered to neither can it be guaranteed in churches which in most cases are businesses interested in cashings in the name of offering, tithes…name them with less or no attention paid to the wellbeing of the congregants.
Mwana akalila fupa mupase.
This is a death warrant for those who are getting excited about the relaxing of the “lockdown”.
You will all soon begin blaming the President for a hasty and realistically, hazardous decision.
You don’t need a prophet to tell you this.
If I were you, I would stay at home and save my life and that of my family.
This is the problem with having leaders that are very thin on brain matter.
Some of you here supporting these measures will not be here after June.
Busy clapping when you have just been sentenced to death.
God help Zambia. No one else will.
Everything is copying from America, without even understanding where State of GA or NC is.
Look at those hypocrites, Lesa ni malyotola.
Edgar Chagwa Lungu is Satanic, why has he done this? It is too early to open churches now and social distancing will be difficult to maintain by these pastors as they will be maximizing offering in these churches.
This one of the dumbest and most reckless cavalier Presidents ever to reside in State House in Zambian History…this man has no capacity whatsoever to lead a country if he only consulted Chilufya and his Finance Minister…..these morons are taking covid-19 so lightly its not even a joke…a barbershop and a place of worship like a church and mosque is the last place that should be opening due to high chances of exposure.
Comment:Mr u are saying this cos ur pocket z fill with a lot of money lockdown o no lockdown if this disease come to stay we will die with it o with anger e.g us poor people if we didn’t do ka pj will have nothing at home are we going to savive o what tell me
Zambians do not put a Chawama drunk into State House …this is the end result…even that photo says it all…what is the point of all those people in there!!
The medicine he takes is overdosing his metal capacity. Zambians, to be forewarned, is to be foretold stay aware from public gathering for little while and monitor how this disease progresses. In times like this, let’s learn from what is happening in other countries. Avoid public gatherings!
wtf ???
Kukopela….bandit President is watching too much CNN and he heard that Barbershops and saloons are opening in Atlanta….and he wakes up and says the same thing…no vision and no direction even in times of a Pandemic….Lungu is just good at stealing and bankrupting the country….Social distancing in a saloon….??? Barbershop
I am fed up of this useless excuse of a president. I know I will be insulted for this yet again but I stand by what I said yesterday: I pray to not only God but satan that at least a million people die in Zambia so that the country realise how pathetic and laughable this leadership is. People think we hate our country but this leadership hates its people so better people die to raise the bar in next election.
Yaba, to think that this is the leadership we praised two weeks ago!! What kind of reasoning is this? Playing with peoples lives. Iwe Dr Chilufya, you have been overridden by that daft Sumaii? COVID-19 is a health matter iwe Chilufya, resign if you have any professional or medical sense or ethics or integrity in you. You cant be one of those so called leaders! Resign!!
Ati PF visionary leadership, visualising more Corona cases?
lwenu. sometimes think for yourself
100% madness. A true Christian can’t make such a decision. If you love your life, stay home don’t follow the wind. We are recording new cases every day and the decision is just a speed up process to recording higher numbers every day. If today alone 8 is recorded 2 weeks after this bad decision we will start recording 100 per day if we follow this decision. U can’t keep social distance in any of the opened businesses. It’s a joke
It’s Evangelical pastors whose dependency on their flock for money wh have prevailed over Lungu. Can u trust them to observe social distancing?
As regards the Covid 19 pandemic, Zambia is currently worse compared to the time that ECL first introduced the partial lockdown. What has now happened that warrants the relaxation of the partial lockdown? Did ECL consultant all Church leaders for him to suggest that Church activities be resumed whilst strictly observing ‘Predential directives in the fight against Covid 19’? Is it that ECL was fast in introducing partial lockdown in Zambia? These are some of the questions that I keep on troubling me in my effort to understand today’s Presidential address.
In my humble opinion, I would have thought that ECL was going to inform us that each District was going to have a Covid 19 centre were everyone in the District was going to be tested. This exercise could be conducted in a period of…
In my humble opinion, I would have thought that ECL was going to inform us that each District was going to have a Covid 19 centre were everyone in the District was going to be tested. This exercise could be conducted in a period of two weeks. After that, the extent of the pandemic would be established and those that would test positive would be isolated and be treated. After that, we could now start thinking of relaxing the partial lockdown.
That’s true dear, and it can help even to know the numbers of those who are effectey.thanks dear leadership quality.
Mr.Lusambo is this the meaning of respecting life more than human rights? Mr. Kaiser where are u? What do you have to say about the decision. Since u and Mr Lusambo are always in support of the decisions please make me understand how one can maintain social distance in a barbershop and saloon? Am sure even you two are shocked that’s why u are quiet
We will see how the changes affect the situation. It’s too early to tell.
With all due respect, it’s easy to tell. What happened to USA? If people follow these changes made its simple and easy what will happen is that the spread rate will increase rapidily. We should not wait for a disaster when we have have already been warned that it is coming. Preparation and prevention is better than negligence. Even the Bible says if u wait for the wind when the right time to plant is now, you will harvest nothing
Well PF are accustomed to dununa reverse. When the cases are on the rise they do the opposite to relax the measures, is useless seer 1 magic of confusion working on these PF minds? One may wonder. Anyway safety kuyisunga wemwine.
This is not the time to relax, wait and see. This is time to think, plan and be extra careful in our decisions. They say stop digging if you are already in a hole. The more you dig the harder it will become to get out of the hole. This decision is like telling us to dig harder so that in the end we can’t come out of the hole.
Lusambo and Kaiser!!! Where are you to back up this brilliant decision? Haven’t you recovered from Your shock yet?
@Nine Chale for you…even when its obvious s/he will sit on the fence…its like that wife who thinks the husband beats her every night because he loves her. Do you know how exposure is high just from sitting in barbershop and someone cutting your hair after touching multiple customers.
Allowing mass gatherings in the midst of Covid-19 is a bad idea. Some people don’t really care about social distancing.
Even in America such have been scaled down but a lot of have still died. Zambia is highly impoverished and all its resources are already committed, let’s not test a Covid-19 outbreak.
We needed to consult more before relaxing the rules because developed countries are extending their lockdowns.
If you care about your life or that of your family better you take expert advice from the NHS or WHO. Listening to local politicians will just land you in your deathbed.
Their families are well taken care of by government resources but as for you and me.
This has got to be a fake story.
It’s irresponsible, and it’s up to every citizen to stay away and keep safe. Why is it so important to congregate during a Pandemic which has killed many people? One minute you tell people to stay at home then the next hey guys you can go play golf and how do you social distance in a church hall? People should pray at home at this time. It’s irresponsible and showing a lack of understanding. I wonder what Doctor Chilufya and the medics think of this.
STAY HOME.
I still maintain the position that decisions like this should be weighed afterwards (based on facts and figures) and not on emotions. A lot of these restrictions that were made in most countries turned out to be too harsh and unnecessary because people were reasonable enough to voluntarily adhere to health guidelines. Countries like Sweden and Singapore for instance, which did not impose any strict measures like lockdown have not had more cases or suffered greater mortalities than those that did.
“The World Health Organisation has identified Ghana and 12 other African countries as high risk countries for the novel coronavirus. Ghana, Algeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia were identified by WHO as African nations with direct links or a high volume of travel to China.”
Does anyone remember reading the above statement? This was on the 2nd of January 2020. I hope, for our sake, that the WHO was wrong.
@Nine Chale, don’t mislead people. Sweden decided earlier on not to impose strict regulations when the numbers were small, while it’s neighbours did. Below is what has now happened and several articles this week are wondering whether Sweden has sent it’s citizens to the ‘slaughter’
“The Public Health Agency announced a death toll of 1,203 people from Covid-19 on Wednesday, a rate of 118 per million inhabitants, compared with 55 in Denmark and just 13 in Finland, both of which imposed strict early lockdowns to curb the virus’s spread”
Scientists had continued to question the government’s light-touch approach.
Excerllent ! This is the best decision from the hardworking pf govt, allowing churches to congregate its a sign that its a God fearing govt, dont mind drunkard like tarino, they wanted you to open bars b4 churches so that they attack you with their small god hh.
In fact this was last week. By today the number in Sweden had risen to 2,152
Harold Muna Zambia could have been on if we were listening. How do you take a trip to Tanzania. Before we look at Zambia let us look at USA. They have done all what you can think of doing in combating Covid-19. But 1/3 of all cases, 900 000 are in USA. There is need to just trust in Jehovah God.
High risk activities bring alot of people together must be last to open. It is too risk.
@Harold Muna, they have been wrong many times already. No one can foretell exactly how this will go on in Africa. Instead of listening to assumptions, every country should be weighing options to see what works out best for them. Personally, I’m glad they’ve started testing vaccines on their own population first and not on Africans.
@Harold Muna, I’m not misleading anyone. You’re right, the death rate is higher in Sweden but medical experts say the significant number is at the end of the year when the total number will be counted. Their argument is that the number won’t be higher then compared to other European countries.
Good evening zambians and the usual angry diasporans. I am sure you have been impatiently waiting for my views on this. I have just arrived home after a long day preparing for the president’s speech as well as dealing with other issues after the speech. It is not a surprise that the diasporans are punting like dogs once more. Look when lusambo effects stringent measures the diasporans and opposition weaklings cry and say its abuse of human rights and dictatorial, and yet again when the president uses specialist advice to relax restrictions, they are crying and claiming it’s not right thing to do. The diasporans and opposition are like a prostitute. You could take a prostitute, marry her ,put a roof on her head and give her what she wants, but as soon as the next man offers her more…
Continued:…money, she would be willing to lie on her back. In other words you cannot please these b.i.t.c.hing slaves in diaspora and their friends in opposition . The president has been clear that the relaxation of the restrictions are on the condition that places of worship and sporting events continue observing social distancing, mandatory wearing of face masks, sanitizing and hand washing guidelines. What is so difficult to fathom about that ? If you took the time to read simple texts you would realise that the president is not saying go on and congregate and hug and kiss each other. He is clear that the onus is on you to be responsible enough to adhere to the rules of social distancing. If the diasporans are saying zambian are not adult or responsible to adhere to these then…
CONTINUED:…maybe let us enforce lusambos approach to whipping and forcefully implementing the directives ? Can the diasporans state their position on this ? Or to them it’s just yapping and criticising everything the president does because their chola boy is not in power ? PLEASE grow up. Now I will go to open my 30 year old whiskey which was gifted to me by a good Scottish business partner of mine. I will relax and unwind after yet another tough but successful day..good evening Zambia. Kz
Director of higher intelligence in the office of the president
And proud father and husband.
When the real men speaks, boys are speachless, kz has spoken. Now where is your tarino?
We were having a factual and decent discussion before the uncivilised @KZ reappeared – it’s really tiresome dealing with an imposter placed here to defend the indefensible. Grow up yourself! ECL has made a decision that is clearly not based on science. Sport, Church congregations, barbershops? Do you recognise any social distancing in this? For a country that does not even know it’s surveillance data or has carried out enough testing. Sweden did the same and the numbers have risen exponentially. Can’t you state anything without insulting people in the diaspora? No rationality just diatribes and as irresponsible as your sender.
Don’t twist issues either. People were condemning Lusambo for the way of enforcement, not the measures themselves. In one breath you say Zambians will be responsible enough to adhere to ECL’s new nonsen.sical directives and on the other hand you justify them being forced to obey measures by being assaulted by your thug minster. Pathetic!
I have grave concerns about this but at least am glad he isn’t running around pitching crazy “what ifs” about ultraviolet or very powerful light and injecting disinfectants like the other guy. LoL!!!
Lungu’s decree to allow churches to congregate amidst escalating Coronavirus infections in Zambia is the epitome of irresponsibility at any level on earth and in hell! This act amounts to a blatant, willful and wanton disregard for the safety of the nation! This man has annihilated Zambia by exposing it to a vicious brand of kleptocracy, he shouldn’t make matters worse by creating a fertile ground for the spread of the deadly pandemic in this country. This is treasonous!
You need to realise that Zambia is nowhere close to the average numbers of infections and or fatalities in majority of countries affected. Just like most countries whose response has been reasonably above average, we are slowly relaxing the conditions. It is very naive to think that restrictions will go on indefinitely until no one has the infection. That is impossible to achieve and is not viable for any economy or country. Our recoveries are more than our deaths so life must go on as we ease our selves back into normal life. The problem is that you are too used to following your masters abroad as diasporans . Just because England is in total lockdown you believe we should also be until they decide not to be. You are forgotten that there they are dying like flies.
There is an old Ashanti proverb that states that when a mosquito lands on you testicles, be careful how you remove it from there! This is the thing Lusambo and his cheerboy Kainyo Zulu do not understand, by violently removing harrassing people, you will sooner than later land yourselves in very hot water, all by your own actions.
I was about to say, if you don’t like the president’s decision then leave. Until I realised that you sadists don’t live in zambia and are not zambians anymore. Go deal with your problems in diaspora. Your countries need you there to volunteer rather than wasting your time on us. We don’t need your irrelevant criticism and for your information we won’t do what you say. We are in power and there is nothing you can do about it. Cry me a river if you want.
Roy there is also a proverb which says a man that hates his own history is as good as a dead mosquito.
Prominent Chipata lawyer Mr Uzaciona Nyirenda dies in Lusaka. Before his body is transported to Chipata he is taken to Kainyo Zulu Funeral Parlors for embalming! Upon turning the corpse over, Kainyo Zulu notices Uzachiona’s gianomous “pe.nis”, he promptly servers it off and packs it in his briefcase. Upon arriving home, having forgotten the other contents of his briefcase, he asks his wife aMake Misozi to get money from the briefcase for “ndiyo”. The next thing Kainyo head is aMake Misozi screaming, and quote: “Zoona nditu Uzachiona amwalila”. Kainyo Zulu cried a river of tears before fainting! Kainyo, kunya ka mambala iwe!
Of course I know that one too, it was coined by you that’s why you are a brain dead SOB! Just watch this space, we had UNIP (Kamalondo & William Banda), MMD (Derrick Chitala) and now PF (Kainyo Zulu) thugs that were so patronizing and brutalized the citizenry of this country thinking that they were immortal and will rule forever. Where are these thugs today. At least none of them was shot dead. But you, ka MalyaMungo iwe, will be shot dead. Mark my word, you wont even know where the hot iron filings that will fell you will come from, you god damn rabid dog!
Pay retirees PSPF.
By the way, why are you so aesthetically repulsive? It is damn ugly souls like you na chimphuno covering half your face that give credence to the belief that humans are descended from apes. Anyway, given your behaviour, you may as well have descended from a baboon!
Did the President come up with
Decision after consulting his health minister or cabinet?There
Is no way you and congregate with
Social distancing at churches and
Mosques and barber shops.
You should honestly look at yourself in the mirror again, it’s not just your facial features that most people find disgusting but na kafipedo kako is completely nauseous! Mutima wako kwati niwa mfwiti! Having been in State House, I would not be surprised that ndiwe mfwiti number 1 already, ka mambala number 1 iwe!
Papa’s are broke so they appealed to him
Otherwise it doesn’t make sense! you have the highest number of recorded case then you go and open a place of public gathering…. It’s like PF’s strategy is to kill everyone before 2021
Take it easy on the Scotch but yes , not a good idea to open shop this early as the number of Covid 19 in the country are on an upward trajectory.
Now I agree with the Imperial College London projection that 300,000 people in Africa may die from the covid-19 pandemic.
At first I dismissed the report .
So the rationale here is that Zambians will pray so hard and kick the Coronavirus away by the power of the prayer alone… how irrational and irresponsible from the hypocrites Christians we have in Zambia.
Lungu uses religion to domicile Zambians and control their thinking to the point they will try to pray and consult a fake prophet every time something bad happens (even man made things caused by these corrupt dimwits). He knows this and hence this stnpid decision.
Church congregation is the last thing you want to reopen under the COVID-19 pandemic environment. It is not an “essential” service and contributes zero to the economy. In fact bars contribute to the economy by employing people and paying tax. Besides you can still talk to your God in the privacy of your own home so…
So the rationale here is that Zambians will pray so hard and kick the Coronavirus away by the power of the prayer alone… how irrational and irresponsible from the hypocrites Christians we have in Zambia.
Lungu uses religion to domicile Zambians and control their thinking to the point they will try to pray and consult a fake prophet every time something bad happens (even man made things caused by these corrupt dimwits). He knows this and hence this stnpid decision.
Church congregation is the last thing you want to reopen under the COVID-19 pandemic environment. It is not an “essential” service and contributes zero to the economy. In fact bars contribute to the economy by employing people and paying tax. Besides you can still talk to your God in the privacy and comfort of your own…
Besides you can still talk to your God in the privacy and comfort of your own home so what’s the deal here?
Our number of infections curve is on the rise, and that’s when you relax your isolation laws. M@dness!
As for the Kaizar Zulu above, please don’t think that when you are in Zambia and you have access to the corridors of power, you own Zambia or that you are more Zambian than the rest of us. This is the problem with you and your kind… you don’t realize that you are merely custodians and have been entrusted to run the affairs of the country. It is not your business that you sweated with your own intelligence and hard work.
“With great power comes great responsibility”
Besides you can still talk to your God in the privacy and comfort of your own home so what’s the deal here?
Our number of infections curve is on the rise, and that’s when you relax your isolation laws. M@dness!
As for the Kaizar Zulu above, please don’t think that when you are in Zambia and you have access to the corridors of power, you own Zambia or that you are more Zambian than the rest of us. This is the problem with you and your kind… you don’t realize that you are merely custodians and have been entrusted to run the affairs of the country. It is not your business that you sweated with your own intelligence and hard work.
“With great power comes great responsibility”
I may have missed out something but what I can see is that the cases of COVID19 are actually worsening from two (2) when the bars, churches, salons and barbers shops were closed to over Seventy (70) cases when we are now opening up these places, I do not honestly see the logic but I understand the way of thinking in PF because most arrangements in PF are the other way round, I believe the presidency is being misled and I know that most fake pastors have been crying about tithe
To justify my point of upside down arrangements let me say the Zambian government is the only one where a Sargent is in charge of the inspector general of police who in turn is controlled by cadres, it is the only government where cadres control ministers, the only place where ministers are slapped by cadres, only…
Place where some ministers are the law within themselves and the only place on earth where to fight COVID you are made to were rulling party regalia over your nose and mouth as a way of preventing the disease my GOD.
The united states defeated polio.Which was just as bad and far more expensive than the corona virus.Peter Carlos Hinds.
@ Mutende Jehovah gave us wisdom and a sound mind. No churches should be open.
I am a devout Christian. I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart. Churches should remain shut. This was a great growing time for Christians. Those thieves called pastors, not all of them could not syphon the little money poor Zambian congregants have. Also churches do not bring economic activity, plus the are tax exempt. Keep them closed for the sake of Zambian lives.
How can we write the president? Our collective God given wisdom should be shared with president Lungu. I think for once Godridah is providing the president with irrelevant guidance.
THIS IS QUIETE SAD. HE SHOULD HAVE WAITED TO OPEN CHURCHES AT A LATER TIME NOT NOW. BETTER TO OBSERVE THE SITUATION. THIS INFLUENCE IS COMING FROM PAPAS. SEED, TITHES AND OFFERING. WHAT ABOUT IF THE CASES INCREASE MORE WHAT HAPPENS? AND THIS IS THE TRUTH THAT THE NUMBERS WE ARE GIVEN ARE A LIE COVID 19 PATIENTS ARE ALOT. BUT SOON THEY WILL BE EXPOSED. LET, ALL THE COMPANIES STOP DONATING KANSHI
Has someone invented a remote controlled barbershop machines? Infact what is coming out is that the pressure came from Moslems to start the ramadan prayers not even Pastors. Trade kings is in charge, hope they dont become like the Gupta in SA.
Magufuli in Tanzania made the same mistake of allowing churches to congregate. Now they have almost 300 confirmed cases.
@ ,Harold Muna April 24, 2020 At 9:26 pm
“The World Health Organisation has identified Ghana and 12 other African countries as high risk countries for the novel coronavirus. Ghana, Algeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia were identified by WHO as African nations with direct links or a high volume of travel to China.”
Does anyone remember reading the above statement? This was on the 2nd of January 2020. I hope, for our sake, that the WHO was wrong.
Grace : UGANDA is NOT high risk because of link with China.. We have a few dozens of students still there. A few of our business people may still be trapped there but they can still be handled effectively on return. Uganda has 75 cases now but about 11…
Nzelu Banda, I agree with you, son of a Pastor.