By OLIVER SAMBOKO
ABOUT 50 learners that have been swabbed for Covid-9 countrywide have tested positive to the virus, Health Minister Jonas Chanda disclosed yesterday.
Speaking during the daily Covid-19 update, Dr Chanda said in the last 24 hours, over 6, 500 students were screened countrywide, and that 50 were found positive.
Dr Chanda disclosed that most of the positive cases were recorded in Southern Province.
He said Government through the Ministry of Health has since scaled up screening and swabbing of learners at learning institutions as part of the compliance monitoring system aimed at stopping the spread of the virus.
Dr Chanda said health experts are continually providing context specific guidance to schools around the country, adding that positive students will be managed at home while their contacts are traced and the school environment sanitised.
“Our teams of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), Environmental Health and Surveillance experts are continually providing context specific guidance to schools around the country,” he said.
Dr Chanda also said learners in boarding schools, where boarders sleep in common dormitories and interact for longer periods with their fellow students will be managed in the context of a facility-based case.
“Any positive cases in boarding schools should be isolated, and their contacts quarantined and tested to ensure the risk of further spread is mitigated,” he said.
He said despite the challenges, Government remains committed to its pledge to provide quality health care to all the citizens.
Dr Chanda paid special tribute and gratitude to health workers around the country who are working day and night to ensure the country has a resilient health system capable of absorbing the shocks brought on by the pandemic while maintaining routine service delivery.
Meanwhile, Dr Chanda disclosed that the country has in the last 24 hours recorded 963 new cases out of 6, 747 tests and 20 new deaths.
He said 234 cases were recorded in Lusaka alone, 185 on Copperbelt, 147 in North-Western, 80 in Northern Province and 72 in Luapula.
Others are 71 in Eastern, 61 in Central, 61 in Southern, 35 in Muchinga, and 17 Western Province, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed cases recorded to date to 65, 573.
