By OLIVER SAMBOKO AND BENNIE MUNDANDO
LUSAKA should be isolated from the rest of the country as part of Government robust strategy to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Bishops Council of Zambia(BCZ) general Secretary Abel Kaela has advised.
Bishop Kaela said following Government declaration of Lusaka as an epicenter for the coronavirus, the Authorities should now act by locking down the capital city to stop any possible spread of the virus to other parts of the country.
He said it was important for the Government to act now before more cases are recorded in other parts of the country adding that it was a more cheaper way of dealing with the current situation than waiting for a full scale outbreak to happen before the Government can act.
“In the current situation the best Government can do is to lockdown Lusaka and also isolate it from the rest of the country to ensure that the outbreak does not spread to the rest of the country because if such an unfortunate thing did ever happened, it’s going to be difficult for the Authorities to deal with the situation,” he said.
Bishop Kaela said so far the church was happy with the way Government was responding to the situation but hoped that more measures are put in place to ensure that coronavirus is brought down and stopped from further spreading.
He said BCZ was going to continue corroborating and cooperating with Government by ensuring that all member churches adhere to the measures put in place to suppress any further spreading of COVID-19.
Biahop Kaela also advised Government to procure and distribute high-tech screening equipment to rural areas to allow speedy detection of the virus in all parts of the country.
He said there is also need to scale up sensitization drive in rural areas on COVID 19 aimed at ensuring that preventive messages reach all the people in the country.
Bishop Kaela noted that in some parts of the country, some people especially the rural populace were not aware of COVID-19 outbreak, while in some parts of the country, the local population believe the virus does not affect black people.
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