By MAIMBO MWEEMBA
Government has allowed boarding schools which have not experienced Covid-19 cases and wish to continue with their learners to ask for permission.
Health permanent secretary technical services Dr Kennedy Malama disclosed this during the Covid-19 daily updates.
“The secretary to the cabinet wishes to clarify today those boarding schools that have not recorded any Covid-19 cases and wish to continue with classes should put in place applications to relevant authorities to continue classes subject to inspection and certification by health officials,” he said.
Dr Malama has said there are some boarding schools that are in far flanged areas that have not been affected by the coronavirus, that is why there has been review.
On Wednesday, Secretary to Cabinet Dr Simon Miti announced the closure of all schools, effective today at 06:00 hours.
“The directives that were announced by the secretary to the cabinet are not meant to be punishments, but to help us as a country to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the country’s treatment centers are full to capacity, that is why every well-meaning Zambian should adhere to the measures and guidelines,” he said.
Dr Malama said the directives if followed will help bring the country to normalcy and save many lives.
“The situation that we seeing today is the a result of us not adhering to the guidelines, and we are convinced that the escalating cases of Covid-19 is caused by super spreader events, that is why emphasis in on Zambians to avoiding super spreader events and gatherings,” he said.
Dr Malama called for the control of infections in the communities so that admissions are lessened, saying Covid-19 should be won in the communities and not hospitals.
“It is expected that every citizen will abide by the measures that were announced yesterday , we appeal to the owners of bars, nightclubs, casinos and taverns to ensure that they adhere to the given guidelines diligently,” he said.
Dr Malama said that if the measures are not followed, the death toll in the country will be more than 60 per day, a situation that is not acceptable.
“The situation we find ourselves in is a grave one, in the last 24 hours we recorded 3,394 new confirmed out of 16,002 tests, bringing the total of cumulative cases to 122,244,”he said.
Dr Malama assured that Covid-19 is a preventable disease, saying what is needed to be done is to adhere too the prescribed health guidelines.
