Thursday, March 28, 2024

Zambia records more discharges than admissions in 3 weeks

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The Ministry of Health is gratified that Zambia has, for the first time in three weeks, recorded more discharges of Covid-19 patients than admissions.

Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary for Technical Services, Kennedy Malama said 135 patients from isolation facilities and 2,726 from home management have been discharged while 126 new admissions were made in the last 24 hours.

Dr. Malama disclosed that among those currently admitted, 726 are on oxygen therapy and 157 are in a critical condition.

He added that discharging more patients is a key milestone that has to be sustained.

“We currently have 12,692 active cases, with 11,634 under community management and 1,058 admitted to our Covid-19 isolation facilities. We had 126 new admissions in the last 24hours compared to 154 the previous day,” he said.

Dr. Malama noted that the government will therefore, continue investing in the health sector to ensure that the Covid-19 response and routine health service provision are continuously strengthened.

“In the past epidemiological week, we saw fewer cases compared to the last (11,447 versus 15,714) and fewer deaths (379 versus 421). Our overall positivity, however, remains unchanged at 23 percent and this is a cause for concern as it indicates that we continue to have high levels of community transmission,” he stated.

He has meanwhile expressed sadness over the increased number of Covid-19 related deaths saying 47 new Covid-19 related deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours.

Dr. Malama, in a press statement issued to the media yesterday noted that the government has continued placing much emphasis on risk communication and community engagement in order to prevent new infections.

He disclosed that health teams across the provinces have continued to carry out legal enforcement of the enhanced measures in schools, churches, malls, bars and nightclubs to curb further transmission.

“In the last 24 hours, a total of 1,778 premises were inspected, of which 283 (16%) were closed, 153 (9%) were served with notices of improvement. The overall compliance rate was 75%. Actions to be taken against those found not in compliance include court summons, revocation of licenses and penalties,” he said.

Dr. Malama has meanwhile called upon members of the public to frown upon those who continue flouting the directives with impunity.

And Dr. Malama has commended various stakeholders for their support in the Covid-19 response and in creating resilience in the health care system.

He revealed that the Ministry of Health recently received 50,000 Dirham, which is approximately US $13,600, from the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) to assist the fight against the pandemic while the USAID has approved support towards the recruitment of short term staff to support the response.

“The support includes extension of support for the current staff for another three months, contracts for the 60 nurses already recruited, and new three month contracts for 270 registered nurses, 60 doctors, 30 biomedical engineering technicians, 30 environmental health technologists, and 15 biomedical scientists. This will improve case management and diagnostics,” he added.

The Permanent Secretary has meanwhile called on citizens not to drop their guard but continue to play a role in ensuring that the chains of transmission are broken by adhering to the public health and social guidance provided.

In the last 24 hours, the country recorded 940 confirmed Covid-19 cases out of 5,166 tests conducted, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed cases recorded to date to 175,729 and administered 5,704 dose 1 and 4,349 dose 2 AstraZeneca vaccinations.

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