President Edgar Lungu has expressed concern with the new local cases of person-to-person COVID-19 transmissions which have been revealed through the vigorous screening and testing being conducted by the Ministry of Health.
The President says he is equally concerned by recent warnings from the World Health Organization that Africa could potentially become the next global epicentre of COVID-19.
A 19-year old woman from Bauleni who attempted suicide before admission died yesterday becoming the third COVID-19 mortality in Zambia with cases jumping to 61.
And in the process of trying to manage her condition, two health workers at Chilenje Level One Hospital contracted COVID-19.
The President says based on best experiences in global health learned from past outbreaks such as Ebola, all contacts of new cases are being traced and tested by the Ministry of Health and as this happens, vigorous mass screening and testing in Kafue, Lusaka and other areas shall both continue and be scaled-up.
He said this should be taken only as a timely warning of what Zambians risk to bring upon themselves if they continue to refuse to do the basics such as wearing masks, when in public, frequent hand washing, keeping a clean environment, no public gatherings, physical distancing, and ensuring that they stay at home and in their respective towns, cities and districts.
President Lungu said in light of the new cases and warning from the WHO, Zambians must not resign to fate, but bear in mind that any region or country can potentially become the next epicentre if prescribed measures are not followed.
He said Zambia’s success in its war against COVID-19 will be primarily determined by two factors namely effective implementation of global best practices in public health and collective responsibility manifested through immediate behavioral change.
President Lungu said with regard to public health measures, it is sad to note that some citizens have continued to act contrary to basic yet lifesaving measures.
He has warned those not following the measures to stop immediately as they are not only endangering their lives, but also endangering the lives of their families and everyone around them.
Lockdown, shakedown before we have a smackdown.
The commander in chief is in hiding or quarantine..
Epicentre in Zambia should be State House since you were the one allowing Chinese to bring coronavirus in the country because of corruption when everyone else had closed their borders.
Tell ZAF to pay as our money takwaba business yaso, they ate our food 3 years ago up to now they have not paid. we are failing to stay home because we can die with hunger. Do somethings your Excellency by telling them to pay as
we are tired of your concerns mr president if those were measures zambia would be ahead of this thing,in zimbabwe no unneccessary movements and essential workers have A certificate when going for work,show your face on tv everyday to assure us and where the hell are all those donations people have donated i dont see distribution of masks and soaps to the vulnerable in society covid isnt joking get serious for once please
This keyboard president of Zambia, your directives are facing resistance on streets of Lusaka because of your street cadre of a minister Lusambo. Wicked man!
My president we are all concerned and that is why we are taking a proactive approach. The lusambo style of tackling this pandemic has had very positive effects. In times like these drastic measures need to be taken. Public interest and security comes before human rights. Even the same westerners who preach human rights are stopping their people from excersing them and yet here we have diasporans crying about human rights as if they are in Zambia. Voestek
Kaizar Zulu, it appears you haven’t seen what’s happening in California, Americans are protesting they are tired of staying home and they want go back to work. None is forcing them to wear masks. Unlike your Lusambo with street mentality of Muzungu anikonde!
Voestek kz u are a big moron. If hje was concerned he could have been in forefront like trump,putin etc but him is ever drunk and ganda
I am old enough to remember the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s and 90s. Even then people didn’t take the warnings seriously. As a result nearly a generation of Zambians was wiped out. I remember KK painfully announcing publicly in 1987 after his son, Masuzyo, had died in December, 1986 the cause of his son’s death. It was complications from AIDS. So to dramatise the seriousness of the pandemic and to help dispel myths and stigma surrounding the disease, the President decided to go public and he has been a strong AIDS advocate ever since.
I say all this to remind my fellow Zambians that if they continue with this cavalier attitude towards the COVID-19, it will be too late to contain the disease and thousands, if not millions, of you will be died. This is not not just theory but real…
Continue….
All you have to do is watch what is going on in Europe and America. Just like AIDS, this virus knows no colour, race, ethnicity, region, social status, poor or rich. So take this disease very seriously or you will soon regret it!
How come we are only seeing Presidents of other countries on our TVs discussing COVID-19. Where is our President to lead us in all this?
Mr President, what you have said is true and your concerns are real, Lusaka Slums are going to give us a hectic problem once the pandemic knocks on those doors because of the density of population in those areas, and as a country we can not afford to allow the pandemic to reach alarming proportions because our health facilities will not cope, a lot of donations have been made thus far so at least for Lusaka let us scale up the distribution of face masks and if possible sanitizers as well. harassing people who are not able to afford face masks is not the answer as it just exposes those that are implanting the “mask up exercise” to the disease and that exposure may back fire soon if we do not take the right path.
Its about time Zambians get rid of PF bandits and their Bandit President Lungu…..2021 lets have new leadership….Lungu and his minions have failed
Didn’t those health workers put on protective clothing? This is so scary!
@ unknown , its not only ZAF which is not paying.
ZNS has not paid us a contractor for over two years .
The President as well as the Minister of Finance told the nation that money has been released to pay local suppliers and contractors in order to cushion the effects of the covid 19 .
We are not paid despite those pronouncements by the head of state.
What could be the problem.
We can hardly survive.
We apeal to the President to look into this matter.
Boma iyanganepo.
The economic numbers are almost the same now with C19 as they were before…..they can’t get any worse
Only now lungu and his rats have an excuse for poor performance.
They would gladly let this C19 episode last years as it gives them cover for shi.t economic performance which is a level they find as normal and BAU
There is too big a lag between pronouncements and action. Where is the money that was announced as having been released to pay GRZ creditors as part of the economic stimulus plan in the wake of the Covid 19 epidemic?
Lazy Lungu concerned, saddened, shocked…blah blah ….meanwhile the fooool is hiding in State House he cant show himself to answer questions…what leadership vacuum, this is the same moron who signed off on PF branded Chitenge cut outs for face mask.
“And in the process of trying to manage her condition, two health workers at Chilenje Level One Hospital contracted COVID-19.”
This is how out of touch with reality this moron is..instead of talking about availability of PPE he is regurgitating Chilufya’s lies and concealing their incompetence
@ tarino meanwhile you are hiding behind fake names online while spilling hate. At least my boss does not hide behind who he is not. Humble but effective leader. Empty tins always make a lot of news and are constantly posting on Facebook. They have been coined Facebook presidents. Meanwhile the true leaders are busy working hard behind the scenes. You wouldn’t know what hard work is because you are a coward who ran abroad thinking you would get an easy life only to find out that there they don’t tolerate laziness. So you probably living off the state there hence all your time here. Uko ku UK as a black man you cannot have time to relax as much as we do here in our own country unless you don’t work. Kz
Where did this Lazy thing say all these things? Or it someone wrote for him…Journalists of today just copy and paste everything. When was the last time Lungu left State House apart from flying out with a helicopter to Luapula to hoover over the flood area….you wonder why some of these empty suits want to lead and this guy wants five more years ….please God help us.
Thank you bosses. Katuba all clear. Repoting to next lokations within areas
An multi personality impostor based in UK calling a Blogger out for using fake name and giving his opinion …the irony in that …quit playing this game on this website kiddo. And no dont refer people to someone’s Facebook account get a life…there is nothing you post here its all diatribe, no specifics infact you are up to date with UK news than Zambian news.
Just go and clone bloggers account as you have nothing to offer here !!
NOw he has shamelessly come back as Bowman commending himself…get a life you moron…LT do something about this foooool
Don’t provoke the boss. The next time he addresses the nation, expect a country wide Lockdown.
Don’t complain then
Lusaka Times, the story of attempted suicide in Bauleni by a 19 year old, ending up as death with Covid-19 and unfortunately infecting health workers in the process, is confusing and makes sad reading. The victim should have been reported earlier to avoid loss of life and passing on infection to health workers. This shows there is wide spread of coronavirus in Lusaka than what is reported. Secondly, it shows that health workers do not have personal protective equipments PPE. All what is said is mandatory face masks when front line staff such as nurses and other health workers are left vulnerable without effective PPE.
MunaDekhane – That’s point I have been driving home on this website for the past three weeks but unfortunately we have the usual trolls being tolerated on this website sponsored by no other than LT themselves.
You got one Pakistani group under control. A group that voluntarily asked to be tested. Then you gave yourselves a pat on the back, whilst delaying any action towards the irresponsible travellers like truckers. Kafue bares witness. Your mass screening will be a wake up call to the coming elections.
Remote Control President
This lazy Edgar he thought the presidency was attending SADC, UN meetings, Presidential inaugurations and PF rallies …look at him now..an utter disgraceful empty suit hiding in State House like a rat in the ceiling.
when HH was wearing a face mask during a press conference all hell broke loose!!!!! JUST THINKING.
Air commander Sir, kindly be serious with your officers who keep on promising suppliers without getting the money they have worked for. what kind of leadership is this? People in ZAF have created there own companies and at any time they supply, they are paying themselves meanwhile they are busy telling us that they don’t receive funding from government to pay suppliers. GOD will punish you ZAF officers, you and your families are enjoying but our innocent families are suffering. our families are braking because you are holding onto our capitals for more than 3 year. This is a warning to you ZAF
If you are a supplier and you are quiet, kindly voice out so that the world can know what is happening, if i dont get my payment this week, i will start mentioning your names and the companies that you are paying
If only concerns were corrective actions, this man would have scored big but alas, this is the lip service he always pays to serious national challenges. Meanwhile his team is busy campaigning for Bill 10 in the midst of Corona. Can we say he is serious? By closing Prime TV, they thought we won’t know but we have our ears to the ground! Whatever Zambians smoked to end up in this mess shall remain a big mystery!
ZAF and its supplying department your days are numbered, the unfairness games you’ve been playing on some suppliers will land you in big problems, look at what has happened to north western province commanding officer Zambia police. Right now i dont even know what my children will eat because of ZAF meanwhile you’ve eaten my food and have forgotten about it.