Zambia is one of southern Africas 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.
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.
Zambias 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.
Tanzanias 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.
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