Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Six More Corona Virus Cases Confirmed from the matrix of People who travelled to Pakistan

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Six more laboratory-confirmed Coronavirus cases have been recorded in the country, bringing the total number to 28.

Health Minister Dr. Chitalu Chilufya confirmed the new statistics at the latest Coronavirus update Saturday afternoon.

He explained that the 6 new cases are in the matrix of the contacts of people that traveled to Pakistan recently and not from any new cases.

Dr. Chilufya disclosed that all the contacts of those that traveled to COVID-19 high-risk countries have all been traced and all surveillance has been heightened to ensure that all contacts are tested and ascertained to be negative before being integrated back into society.

He said so far only Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces have recorded 26 and 2 positive Coronavirus cases respectively.

“We are creating a tree for all contacts and due to an efficient surveillance system, that is the reason why we managed to trace the contacts for the patient in Luanshya and others from Pakistan,” Dr. Chilufya said.

He further said a screening facility has been secured at the Makeni dry port to screen passengers traveling from other countries and said 17 vehicles and 3 ambulances have been provided to improve response.

Dr. Chilufya further said all provincial health centers have been equipped with the capacity to respond to the matter effectively.

And when asked why the government is not declaring a complete lockdown, Dr. Chilufya said the government is trying not to cripple the economy by striking a balance between addressing this public health challenge and ensuring that the economy continues to run within the confines of the safety measures that have been announced so far.

“As the epidemic evolves, new measures will be announced and do not be surprised when the President announces new heightened measures,” Dr. Chilufya said as he emphasized the need to heed to the President’s directive of following all the measures such as social isolation,regular washing of hands among others.

Dr. Chilufya thanked various stakeholders such as the church, business owners among others for their compliance with the safety measures and encouraged that to continue if the epidemic is to be addressed effectively.

So far,597,267 cases have been recorded globally with 27,365 deaths out of which Africa has recorded 4,146 cases with 115 deaths.

23 COMMENTS

  1. Time to close Zambia down no more incoming flights for 3 weeks and close all borders.This fast growing COVID-19 is not a joke it should not be taken lightly.

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  2. iwe Dr Chilufya seems you are doing a good job. However, it requires installation of what would be regular system measures in response to the virus. You have to work on the hypothesis that coronavirus is infinite. The lockdown period offer opportunity to regularize this virus by put-in-place adequate facilities such as respirator machines. Dr Chilufya you are the only hardworking in President Lungu’s cabinet. The rest are derangedd mental faculties.

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  3. The cases in the country are not as bad as South Africa and other
    Countries so I would agrèe with
    Minister to Carry on without lockdown.This can be reviewed on
    Weekly basis.

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  4. Let us not allow any more foreigners into the country for a period of 39 days. If this virus will still be around in June when winter is at its peak, it will give us enormous challenges.

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  5. RTSA, please attend to minibus situation which still remain packed with people without regulation. If you are going to help with COVID-19 situation you need to first issue travel regulations for use of public transport and then set up strategic check points. Also encourage people to walk if they can otherwise you leaving higly dangerous transmission minibus or big bus situation unattended to. We shall overcome this with wisdom and faith. God Bless Zambia

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  6. “…He explained that the 6 new cases are in the matrix of the contacts of people that traveled to Pakistan recently and not from any new cases….”
    THAT’S SOME POSITIVE NEWS OUT OF ALL THE GLOOM AND DOOM. BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE SHOULD PUT OUR GUARD DOWN. LET’S ALL COMPLY AND FOLLOW ALL PUTC DOWN MEASURES BY THE AUTHORITIES.

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  7. Thank you for the update. You have been fantastic during such a stressful time. His excellency is very pleased with your handling of this matter. We shall continue to consult you the specialists before undertaking any measures. Mushota we hope your family are the first ones to die so that you help reduce global population. Kz

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  8. We are indeed thankful for these updates from the minister and his team who are working very hard to keep the nation informed during this difficult time. This is not a time for finger pointing. It is time to put all our shoulders to the wheel and stop this contumacious thing from spreading any further.

  9. What efficient surveillance system? Really laughable Just say you were keeping cases undercover, anyone can ask an individual for their whereabouts in the past 48 hours…its unwise to start pointing to an ethic grouping ie Pakistanis when tensions are already high you are clearly playing with a matches in an military armoury.

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  10. Instead of praising himself ..this thief needs to tell us how many ventilators he has procured or he is looking to form a company to supply ventilators!

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  11. Dr. Chilufya the proof you have in front of you is the evidence of how infectious this strain is. The truth is you are allowing/facilitating the spread of it which will be like fire in densely populated Zambia.

    The best defence is to stop non-essential business like bars, non essential gathering like Churches, and impose strict non contact rules. Business does not come before life. ALL GLOBAL ECONOMIES WILL SUFFER FROM COVID-19. As medical officer you know very well you are endangering life.

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  12. Dr Chilufya what are you doing to protect our gallant men and wpmen in the health service? Please make sure they are well equipped and protected. We need them but their families need them too and they should not sacrifice their lives beacuse of corruption and incompetence of people above them. The only way they can do their job properly is if they have correct and adequate protective equipment. Let’s be fair. Please take care of them.

  13. Ba KAIZAR ZULU, …..really??
    As top Director in the Civil Service of GRZ, right hand man for Eagle 1 and wishing a Zambian and her family d.e.a.th??
    Are you promoting or hurting PF and GRZ??
    Are Civil Servants now allowed to be openly political . . . . or is no one in GRZ paying attention??
    If others from the Service join in are they going to be disciplined??

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  14. The 29 cases is what they have manged to identify. Contact tracing is very, very, very hard even for countries with smart leadership, technology and systems. Right now the actual number of coronavirus is more than 100. It is so weird and troubling that Lungu and his government have not shut the airport and other international entry points. As long as these points of entry are open, whatever measures they are implementing will amount to 5 steps backward. Malawi and Botswana, for instance, have no covid cases yet they have closed their borders.

  15. Meanwhile the Chinese are already back on track and hitting it hard with accelerated development of the 5G network. By the time the world would’ve finished grappling with COvid19 them would’ve been miles ahead. One cannot but admire the Chinese spirit and manner of trying to define their destiny- or is it our destiny?

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  16. Not good enough. When we are we going to learn from other countries that made mistakes? The airport has been porous for a while (temperature checks are not enough) People without symptoms from regions highly affected have slipped through. Instead of a complete ban of travel from those
    regions, we claim we can trace them internally. People who were on flights of those you mention here, have already mingled with the population. Please don’t also mention the particular countries as knowing the stigmatization culture in the country, the ‘witch hunt’ will start and the panic won’t help.
    Another ridiculous ‘measure’ is the limit to 50 people assembling. So 50 or less does not pose any risk, but 51 does? What science is that? Remember these concerns those of you who support blindly, as…

  17. Glad ba minister,
    we need to do more.
    this is the time to work not later when cases swell.
    1. no more planes into the country.
    2. curfew 2000-0500
    3.RTSA control loading of busses
    4.lockdown of towns with cases.

  18. the most efficient way in combating the virus is by locking down and doing mass testing…close your entry points anyone who comes before the closure is put in mandatory quarantine for 14 days and tested before releasing them….All these measures are time bound….the more you delaye the faster it spreads…and most of these cases are imported cases…dont wait till it becomes community infection…Ghana closed it borders and placed about 1000 returness from different countries in mandatory quarantine in hotels in Accra. about 70-100 of them tested positive.. the rest have been released.

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