CB in Covid-19 prevention boost

GOVERNMENT has scale up enforcement of Covid-19 preventive guidelines on the Copperbelt following the escalation of cases.

The state would ensure that adherence to the Covid-19 guidelines improved among citizens, who had dropped the guard.

Copperbelt Minister, Japhen Mwakalombe, said Government was saddened that many people on the Copperbelt were not following preventive measures, even when indications were that cases were escalating.

He said Copperbelt, which only had two cases when Covid-19 broke out about five months ago, had struggled with cumulative cases standing sat 704.

He said with the swelling cases, there was need for Government to respond quickly in order to protect the lives of people.

According to the minister, Copperbelt has 367 active cases, who were in quarantine while three were in the hospital.

Mr Mwakalombe said there was one patient at Masaiti District Hospital, one at Ndola Teaching Hospital and the other at Kitwe Teaching hospital.

He said Copperbelt had recorded nine deaths and further directed District

Commissioners (DC) and all local authorities to go all out and ensure that Covid-19 guidelines were being followed.

All public places, he said, would be inspected to ensure that there was social distancing, masking up, sanitising and keeping the surrounding clean at all times.

Mr Mwakalombe urged the provincial medical team to scale up screening at the Kafulafuta Toll Gate to ensure that everyone entering Copperbelt was checked.

And Copperbelt Provincial Health Director, Dr Robert Zulu, said it was important to scale up the enforcement in order to prevent any further spread of the disease.

Dr Zulu explained that the delay in the release COVID-19 results was because of the rising demand for the service as people were flocking the testing centres.

He said the province only had the Tropical Disease Reach Centre (TDRC) and Arthur Davidson Hospital as testing centres whose testing equipment capacity could not handle hundreds of tests a day.

Dr Zulu said the machinery was turned off at least twice a week to ensure that it was in good condition for accurate results.