JOB LOSSES LOOM IN TOURISM SECTOR.

CALLS by health experts to lockdown the country will not be in the best interest of consumers as prices of essential goods would skyrocket if this decision was to be taken, the Zambia Consumers Association (ZACA) has warned.

ZACA executive secretary, Zuba Sakala, said in an interview that already, the prices of food have soared beyond the reach of many households and to suggest that the country should lockdown was unfair.

Mr Sakala said it was too early to call for a lock down of the country as such a decision would spell doom to the majority of citizens who could not afford to stock food because of limited resources.

“Locking down the country will have far more consequences on the wellbeing and survival of most poor households than the Covid-19 because prices of essential good will skyrocket beyond the reach of the poor,” he said.

He said ZACA had been monitoring the price of food and other essential necessities and was worried that the majority citizens were hardly surviving.

Mr Sakala said as a landlocked country, Zambia should be careful in the manner it was handling the Covid-19 to ensure that there was a balance between the health of citizens and the economy.

He said those calling for the lockdown were well to do and did not care about the many Zambians who survive through selling in the streets.

Mr Sakala said health experts should instead call for strict adherence to Covid-19 preventive measures.

He said Government should heighten Covid-19 screening at all points of entry.