222 Zambians arrive from SA, India face quarantine

ABOUT 222 Zambians returning from South Africa and India will be quarantined for 14 days, the Ministry of Health has announced.

And the ministry said the supervised home isolation system for Covid-19 patients in Nakonde had been intensified and some were being discharged.

Ministry of Health director, infectious diseases,, Lloyd Mulenga, said 106 Zambians were returning from South Africa while 116 would come from India.

Professor Mulenga said during the Covid-19 update yesterday that all people returning would be quarantined for 14 days including those in transit to other countries.

Prof Mulenga also said the supervised home isolation system in Nakonde had been intensified.

He said more than 100 community health workers were working with a team of 50 case managers to follow up patients in home isolation.

Prof Mulenga said there were 96 patients in Chinsali Isolation Facility and that a number of patients had been released to home isolation.

Meanwhile, Prof Mulenga said Zambia recorded eight Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours from the 521 tests which were conducted from Lusaka, Ndola and Chinsali laboratories.

He said four Covid-19 patients were discharged from the Levy Mwanawasa Isolation Centre after testing negative twice.

He said the new cases included three from Lusaka, two from Ndola and three cases from Solwezi.

Prof Mulenga said the cases from Lusaka involved a 46-year-old health worker from UTH, a 31-year-old who is a contact to a known case and a woman who was detected through routine screening.

He said the Ndola cases involved a female health worker and a 23-year-old who was a contact to a known case.

Solwezi had a 23-year-old man detected through routine screening, a 48-year-old woman who was a contact to a known case and a 25-year- old health worker from Solwezi General Hospital.

Prof Mulenga said the cumulative number of cases now stood at 761 which included seven deaths, 192 recoveries and 566 active cases.