More flock to Lusaka

SCORES

of travellers have continued to flock to Lusaka despite Government’s call on citizens to stay away from the city which has been identified as the epicentre for the Covid-19 pandemic.

And the Kitwe District Chamber of Commerce and Industry has suggested government should consider locking down Lusaka Province in order to prevent the spread of the corona virus pandemic to other provinces.

Chamber President, Anthony Kabaghe, said that Government should lock down the capital city, which was the epicentre of COVID-19 instead of restricting the whole country.

Meanwhile in Kitwe, people were still boarding Lusaka-bound buses, ready for travel even after Government issued an alert notice to het the capital city, hoisting over 30 confirmed cases out of 36 patients.

A check by the Daily Nation at Kitwe bus station in the town centre, found people getting tickets and boarding the buses in readiness for travel to the capital city.

The Ministry of Health early this week identified six hotspots for the rapidly-spreading corona virus in Lusaka and had advised residents outside the district against visiting the country's epicentre.

Some travellers said they could not avoid going to the capital because of the businesses they conduct, which required their presence in Lusaka. The said that they would not manage to continue fend for their families if they did not travel to the capital city to order items for sale.

Another traveller, Obvious Lungu, said that there were a lot of services that people in other provinces access in Lusaka that other towns and provinces did not offer.

Mr Lungu said that he was going to seek medical attention that the hospitals could not offer on the Copperbelt.

"What will happen to me if I stay and wait for the corona virus to finish? I will definitely die,” he said.

Mr Lungu said he appreciated that the call was for the betterment of the citizens but that Government should also consider other issues that make people travel to the capital city and make exemptions.

Lusaka has recorded more than 30 confirmed cases of the COVID—19 while the Copperbelt has got two.