Zambia has recorded four new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of active cases to 20.
Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya says the 4 new cases of COVID-19 involve a 56 year old man of Kafue, a 10 year old girl from Kabwe, a 40 year old woman, who is connected to the family from Makeni and a 19 year old woman from Bauleni.
Four of 188 tests done in the last 24hrs are positive.
• Female 19 years – Lusaka.
• Female 10 years – Kabwe.
• Male 56 years – Kafue.
• Female 40 years – Lusaka linked to positive case.
Investigations to trace and screen contacts have been instituted right away.
Speaking during the routine updates on COVID-19, Dr. Chilufya said the 10 year old girl from Kabwe had gone to the clinic with an acute respiratory illness and has epidemiological link to a family that travelled from Lusaka to visit in Kabwe.
He said health teams have since been deployed to investigate the contacts to the new cases and that hospital surveillance has been upscaled.
Dr. Chilufya said extensive community screening in Kafue has continued and that 7 hundred swabs were collected.
He said the multispectoral team will move into specific areas of Lusaka to conduct mass screening once the exercise is concluded in Kafue.
Dr. Chilufya emphasized on the need for Zambians to adhere to President Edgar Lungu’s guidance of non-essential travel to avoid spreading the virus.
And Information and Broadcaster Minister Dora Siliya reiterated that it is everyone’s responsibility to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by observing instituted measures.
Ms. Siliya said failure to do so could lead to an increase in new cases of COVID-19 in the country.
