Zambia heightens preparedness against COVID-19
By People Daily, March 16, 2020The Zambian government on Saturday announced more measures aimed at preventing the COVID-19 by, among other things, restricting travels outside.
Although Zambia has not recorded any case, Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya said the government was heightening its preparedness against the COVID-19 outbreak.
He told reporters during a press briefing that only essential travels outside the country will be allowed while unnecessary public gatherings will not be tolerated.
Schools will not be closed but will be required to put in high standards of hygiene.
The government, he said, was encouraging the use of technology such as video conferencing instead of the holding of meetings as part of preventive measures.
According to him, organizers of public gatherings will have to get advice from health officials and that it was now mandatory for all public institutions including schools, training institutions, shopping malls and trading places to adhere to and practice high levels of hygiene standards.
Operators of passenger vehicles, marine transport, and other conveyances are required to put in place all necessary provisions to promote hygiene and facilitate infection prevention and control during operations. This includes provision of health information on COVID-19, he said.
Although Zambia has not recorded any case, its disease intelligence arm, the Zambia National Public Health Institute, has been conducting surveillance and to date 28 alerts involving individuals who traveled from areas with confirmed COVID-19 cases have been investigated.
On the other hand, Zambia has screened more than 29,000 passengers at its international airports in the past one month, of which 2,300 travelers coming from high risk areas have been identified and were being tracked. (Xinhua)