Zambia coronavirus: 3,326 cases; parliament adjourns indefinitely

Zambia

Zambia is one of southern Africa’s most impacted nations despite being way behind continent leader South Africa.

A lockdown imposed by President Edgar Lungu has since been relaxed following a continent-wide trend. This article will focus on major developments coming from the southern African country.

July 21: case boom, parliament shut down again

The parliament will today adjourn sine die due to the rise in COVID-19 cases. According to an order paper for Tuesday, July 21, Vice President Inonge Wina will issue a Notice of Motion to request the House to adjourn in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Adjournment of the House: That, in accordance with Standing Order 33 (1) of the National Assembly of Zambia Standing Orders, 2016, and in view of the Coronavirus disease, 2019, the House do now adjourn sine die,” the Order Paper read.

Local media portal, Mwebantu, reports that this will be the second time that the parliament is adjourning due to the pandemic. The house had earlier adjourned on 18th March before resuming on 9th June.

Meanwhile, there is a boom in reported cases with the current caseload sitting at 3,326. The previous tally before the July 20 update was 2,980 cases as of July 18.

Zambia virus stats as of July 21, 2020 at 07:00 GMT

Confirmed cases = 3,326
Deaths = 128
Recoveries = 1,620
Active cases = 1,578

John Hopkins University stats

June 24: 1,489 cases; truck drivers, air travellers import cases

Case load as of June 24 stood at 1489 with 12 new cases – 7 from Chirundu, 4 in Lusaka and one in Kafue, the health ministry announced.

The cases include truck drivers who entered the country via Chirundu and passengers screen at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport plus contacts to known cases. With 10 new recoveries, there are 1,223 of them in total with 18 deaths.

The active case count is 248. The Ministry said there were 855 tests in the last 24 hours. Nakonde remains the most impacted district with 642 cases as against Lusaka’s 419 cases. In all, 32 districts have been infected nationwide.

The cumulative number of tests stand at 51,626. One of the smallest tests across the continent where most countries have passed the 100,000 mark. South Africa is Africa’s most impacted country with over 100,000 cases. The country has run over 1.3 million tests so far.

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The Government of Zambia has suspended all tourist visas until further notice. Travelers arriving with a visitor visa, or applying for a visitor visa on arrival for non-essential purposes will not be permitted entry despite Zambian borders being officially open.

Entrance to Zambia through non-tourist visas or permits is subject to approval from the Ministry of Health following a health screening at the port of entry.

-Quarantine Information:_

The Government of Zambia is enforcing mandatory 14-day quarantine, testing, and regular monitoring at their residence or preferred place of stay for persons entering Zambia.
Persons arriving are no longer required to quarantine at a government-designated facility, but must communicate to Ministry of Health officials where they intend to reside and provide accurate contact information for regular follow-ups.
This includes those entering Zambia at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA) as well as land borders.
Symptomatic individuals will be required to enter isolation protocol at a Zambian government facility.

#COVID19 daily update: in the last 24hrs, Zambia recorded 12 new cases and 10 recoveries. Cases include truck drivers who entered the country through Chirundu, passengers screened at KKIA and contacts to known cases pic.twitter.com/JyRSiHIrNq

— Zambia National Public Health Institute (@ZMPublicHealth) June 24, 2020

June 12: Cases reach 1,321, Nakonde still leading

The case load in the country reached 1,321 as of Friday (June 12) with 28 new cases out of 1,059 tests. 26 recoveries took the tally to 1,104 which leaves 207 active cases so far. The death toll is at 10.

In total, 24 areas nationwide have recorded cases. The top three being Nakonde, capital Lusaka and Ndola. Nakonde, the border town with Tanzania has long been classed a hotspot for the spread of the virus.

It recorded 7 new cases in the latest cases taking its total tally to 641 as against 346 for Lusaka and 75 for Ndola.

May 27: Health Minister infected, cases pass 1,000 mark

Local media portals have reported that Zambia’s health minister has tested positive for COVID-19. Dr. Chitalu Chilufya becomes the second cabinet member to be infected.

Chilufya has been in the fore front of the country’s fight against the virus among others giving press briefings on developments and announcing virus control measures.

Last week, information minister and government spokesperson Dora Siliya confirmed having been infected and explained that her decision to publicize the news was to help combat stigma.

Zambia’s case statistics stands at 920 cases, 336 recoveries, seven deaths and 577 active cases as of May 27, 2020 GMT. Local media are also reporting 137 new cases over the last five days and 433 recoveries. If confirmed the case count will pass the 1,000 mark and recoveries will also surpass 760.

JUST IN: JUST IN: Minister of Health mohzambia Hon Dr Chitalu Chilufya has tested positive for #Covid-19 #Zambia pic.twitter.com/bzAdFHmqsx
— Mwebantu (Mwebantu) May 27, 2020

May 24: govt spokesperson tests positive

Information Minister and chief government spokesperson, Dora Siliya, confirmed testing positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. In a video posted on Twitter, she said she had gone into immediate self-isolation despite being asymptomatic.

“I have since alerted the ministry of health and I have given them all my contacts especially in the last 10 days,” she added. “Let us continue to observe social distancing, masking and washing our hands regularly,” she advised.

The World Health Organization’s Africa head reacting to the news today congratulated the Minister for being open about her status and wished her speedy recovery.

Over in South Sudan, the first vice-president and a number of ministers had earlier this week tested positive for the virus. Over in Nigeria three state governors have recovered from the virus – those in question are governors of Oyo, Kaduna and Bauchi.

Zambia virus stats as of May 24, 2020 at 13:00 GMT

Confirmed cases = 920
Deaths = 7
Recoveries = 336
Active cases = 577

I thank Dora_Siliya, Zambia's Minister of Information & Broadcasting Services, for being so open & sharing important information on #COVID19 risk & prevention measures. Such candour is vital to fighting stigma around the virus. I wish you a speedy recovery. https://t.co/ujQyMlkAQe
— Dr Matshidiso Moeti (MoetiTshidi) May 24, 2020

May 20: Nakonde records more new cases

Nakonde, the border town with Tanzania continues to record more cases of the virus. It remains the most impacted town with a tally that far outstrips the capital Lusaka.

Nakonde recorded 47 new cases on Wednesday bringing its tally to 456. Which represents more than half of the national case count which stands at 832. Thirteen other new cases were spread between six other districts.

Active cases currently stand at 628 with recoveries up to 197 and seven deaths so far. The one-stop border post in Nakonde was closed last week by President Lungu amid a spike in cases.

May 14: Case spike continues with Nakonde leading

Zambia has more than doubled its COVID-19 figures from five days ago. 208 new cases took the case count to 654. Of the cases, 196 were in Nakonde, a border town with Tanzania and the other 12 in Chirundu.

The current tally of 654 means an increase of 387 cases within the last three days. As of May 10, the number of confirmed cases stood at 267.

May 14 = 654 cases (208 new cases), 7 deaths, 124 recoveries
May 13 = 446 cases (5 new cases), 7 deaths, 117 recoveries
May 12 = 441 cases (174 new cases), 7 deaths, 117 recoveries
May 11 = 267 cases (0 new cases), 7 deaths, 117 recoveries
May 10 = 267 cases, 7 deaths, 117 recoveries

The town of Nakonde was declared a hot spot by the Ministry of Health on May 10 leading to the closure of the frontier with Tanzania.

The Nakonde – Tunduma border post was launched in October 2019 at a ceremony attended by Presidents Lungu and Magufuli. Zambia opted to close it in order to better contain spread of virus in the area.

WATCH VIDEO: IN its continued support to supplement Governments efforts in the fight against Covid 19, AICZ today moved to #Nakonde District Hospital for its disinfection.

A team of AICZ board members , Mr. Khankara and Mr. Dasu are on the ground in Nakonde to oversee the prgme pic.twitter.com/K8hQNKMd5Y

— Mwebantu (@Mwebantu) May 14, 2020

May 10: Closure of border with Tanzania

The Zambian government has announced the closure of its common border with Tanzania. On Saturday (May 9) 76 new cases were reported in Nakonde, the border town in question.

The president directed that with effect from Monday 11th May, 2020; “the Nakonde border will be temporarily closed. There shall be no traffic in and out of Nakonde,” Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya announced at a COVID-19 press briefing on Sunday.

The measure is to facilitate the roll out of targeted interventions. During the time, immigration staff at the border will be trained and retrained on how to safely deal with entry of persons and goods.

Redeployments and reinforcements will also be undertaken, whiles Personal Protective Equipments and quarantine facilities and other key logistics will reinforced with the view to protect the lives of officials and the people of Nakonde.

Zambia’s case stats as of today stands at 267 confirmed cases with 117 discharges and 7 deaths. Tanzania on the other hand has 509 cases, 21 deaths and 183 recoveries, according to John Hopkins University tallies.

Tanzania’s overall response to the pandemic has been a mix of controversy. From president Magufuli casting doubts on the efficacy of test kits, refusal to implement measures such as curfew or lockdowns and reported cases of midnight burials.

The border in question is the Nakonde – Tunduma One Stop Border Post (OSBP) was launched in October 2019 at a ceremony attended by the two leaders. It is said to be one of the busiest crossing points in Southern Africa with an average traffic flow of 600 trucks per day.

The OSBP was touted as significantly reducing the time spent at the border from the average of 4 days at the time of launch to 1 day hence helping truck drivers and traders increase on their profit and save time.

“Once fully operation, the border will handle higher traffic levels which will in return improve competitiveness of the corridor resulting in increased trade volumes. Ultimately this infrastructure will promote border coordination making our shared border smart and efficient,” the Zambian leader said at the time.

Govt of Zambia orders temporary closure of border with Tanzania from tomorrow.
This after 76 Covid-19 cases were reported at Nakonde – the border town with Tanzania.
Total number of cases in the Country stands at 267. pic.twitter.com/ULnH7d4kGS

— Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) May 10, 2020

May 8: Relaxation of lockdown measures

The president in an address to the nation on Friday announced the reopening of restaurants, gyms and casinos “as he calls on Zambian scientists to find local solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic,” local news portal Mwebantu reported.

However, bars and taverns were to remain closed until further notice. The president also reopened examination classes in schools beginning 1st June 2020. He stressed that all these measures should comply with public health measures aimed at containing and combating spread of the virus.

The president also challenged Zambian scientists to help find local solution to the COVID-19 pandemic. He stressed the need for professionals to find local solutions to challenges and not always rely on foreign solutions.