BARS, SCHOOLS OPEN

as loadshedding nears end

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has reopened all schools, colleges and universities while bars and night clubs will operate from Fridays to Sundays only.

Making the announcement during the opening of the fifth session of the National Assembly, the President however emphasised the need to strictly adhere to Covid-19 health preventive measures.

‘‘The Ministry of Home Affairs and Local Government must ensure there is strict adherence to preventive measures against the pandemic.’’

- President Lungu

SIX months after being closed, schools and bars have been given the green light to reopen with due diligence being taken to guard against the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The cry for both schools and bars to reopen have been getting louder as the economy began to bite.

Many people earn their living from running bars and their closure had crippled their earnings.

Schools, especially private-run entities, did not fare any better.

In fact, many of the stories we have ran have shown that the closure has had a telling effect on both learners and teachers.

Apart from teachers and lecturers losing a source of income because parents and guardians became reluctant to pay school fees for non-learning pupils, learners also lost valuable hours of classroom work.

Income in private learning institutions simply dried up. Some schools had resorted to putting their members of staff on half salaries as a way of mitigating the impact of the pandemic.

As the economy began to bite, the cries to reopen schools got louder and louder and the most recent was from the Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT).

The union had contended that the pandemic was here to stay and that the ministry of Health had managed to bring the scourge under control, hence the call to reopen schools.

Equally concerned bar owners had made several overtures to Government to give the sector some lifeline before people became destitute due to the prolonged closure of bars.

Yesterday, President Edgar Lungu responded to the cries and ordered that both schools and bars be reopened, albeit under special guidelines.

In reopening the bars, the President advised that these could only operate from Friday to Sunday, which is three days in a week specifically, while schools would resume normal operations under the new normal.

This means that pupils and teachers would be expected to mask up, observe social distancing as well as sanitise hands when need be.

Making the announcement during the opening of the fifth session of the twentieth National Assembly, the President emphasized the need to strictly adhere to Covid-19 health preventive measures.

He said the reopening of bars and night clubs was done on a pilot basis, warning that should there be flouting of public health guidelines, he would be forced to close them again.

President Lungu however said the bars and night clubs would be open partially from Friday to Sunday between 18:00 hours and 23:00 hours.

This means that no one would be allowed to be loitering near the bar premises after 23:00 hours.

It is imperative that these regulations are observed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 through bars and night clubs.

The President also directed the Ministry of Home Affairs and Local Government to ensure there was strict adherence to preventive measures against the pandemic.

These means that police officers and health inspectors would be expected to do the rounds of bars and schools, to ensure there is adherence.

It is in the best interest of everyone to observe the general guidelines as provided by the Ministry of Health to guard against the spread of Covid-19.

The nation has already witnessed the devastating impact of Covid-19, through a surge in BIDs (brought in dead) cases especially in July.

The lull that is being experienced is therefore to be taken with caution for things could change without notice if people became careless.

Strict enforcement of measures is needed to ensure the country does not backslide.