Zambia has recorded 3 more positive COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, health minister Dr. Chitalu Chilufya has said.
Speaking at the latest COVID-19 update this morning, Dr Chilufya said two cases involve two females aged 23 and 29 respectively who are contacts of the man from Makeni while the third case is of a 26 year old man who arrived from Poland on the 12 April 2020 aboard Ethiopian airlines.
He said the new 3 cases are out of 150 cases that were tested in the last 24 hours.
Dr Chilufya said cumulatively the cases now stands at 48 cases,2 deaths,30 recoveries with 16 admissions who are all stable including the 74 year old man who is recuperating well and out of oxygen support.
He disclosed that the total number of tests conducted now stands at 1,846 with those that have successfully completed now at 2,336 while 637 alerts were recorded with all of them testing negative.
On the ongoing lock down on Kafue, Dr Chilufya said the district remains an area of interest for now in order to increase testing and screening before it can spread and become a bigger public health threat.
The minister said the lockdown in Kafue which has paved way for massive testing and screening will give a clear evidence of extent of cases in the district.
He urged for full cooperation from Kafue residents to ensure they give the health authorities the support they need.
“The only way of reducing coronavirus is by entrenching in our communities the reduction of person to person transmissions and you should help us by staying home and mask up and to corporate with public health authorities in various jurisdictions” he urged.
He said everyone is at risk but urged for the protection of the vulnarable in society especially those susceptible to the virus such as the advanced in age and emphasized that adhering to the prescribed measures is cardinal to disrupt further transmission of cases.
And Dr Chilufya cautioned all those abrogating the provisions of the guidelines and called on business owners in the transport sector to ensure they protect the passengers by observing the social distancing guidelines and to disinfect all public areas.
“We know how to resuscitate your business but we do not know how to bring back to life your clients that could be lost due to Coronavirus” he said.
Meanwhile, Zambia has received more COVID-19 materials from the Jack Ma Foundation aimed at supporting the detection and treatment of the Coronavirus disease.
The consignment has been organized by the Jack Ma Foundation, African Union, Ethiopian Airlines and the World Food Program.
Zambia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, Emmanuel Mwamba confirmed the development and thanked all the partners involved in the fight against the pandemic on the continent.
Mr. Mwamba said the consignment which has been dispatched to Lusaka arrived today at 14:40 hours aboard Ethiopian Airlines.
He said the consignment Zambia has received comprise, 18,900 viral swabs, transport medium and extraction kits, 3,700 personal protective clothing sets, 3,800 face shields, 4.36 thermometer guns and 5. 9,500 gloves.
Mr. Mwamba said this consignment together with the first shipment, represents a baseline of Personal Protective Equipment and test kits that the Jack Ma Foundation has supported Africa in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said in addition to the materials donated, the Jack Ma Foundation has donated Yuwell Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure, devices that clear the airway used for patients requiring incubation which are not ventilators but perform similar functions.
Last month, the Foundation donated to Zambia 100,000 face masks, 20,000 laboratory test kits, and 1, 000 personal protective equipment.
This is contained in a statement issued to the media by Inutu Mwanza, the First Secretary Press, and Tourism at the Zambian Embassy in Ethiopia.
