Regular Covid screening for schools set

GOVERNMNT says it was planning to regularly carry out Covid-19 screening at various learning institutions to curb the pandemic as they reopen.

And Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary for Technical Services Kennedy Malama said the country had in the last 24 hours recorded eight Covid-19 deaths and 181 new cases out of 1, 608 tests done from 18 districts.

Updating the nation on the Covid-19 situation yesterday in Lusaka, Dr Malama said the ministry would heighten engagements with schools so that any case was picked to avoid the spread of the virus.

On the resumption of both non examination and examination classes, Dr Malama assured the nation that the ministry would work closely with learning institutions to ensure that all

Covid-19 measures are observed.

He also disclosed that the ministry yesterday conducted screening on members of Parliament and staff at the National Assembly following the resumption of parliamentary sittings.

Meanwhile, Dr Malama said out of the eight deaths recorded, five were brought in dead (BIDs) in the Copperbelt while three were facility deaths, with 120 patients being discharged.

He observed that from the new 181 cases, 75 were reported through hospital screening from different parts of the country, 63 from routine screening and 16 were contacts from known cases.

He indicated that the cumulative number of cases stood at 13, 720 out of 132, 642 tests with 12, 380 recoveries and 320 deaths.

Dr Malama also said Copperbelt Province had continued to be a hotspot of Covid-19 cases and the ministry was on alert to stop the spread of the virus.

He said seven out of ten provinces have testing capacity for Covid-19.