By KETRA KALUNGA
COVID-19 has struck the State House establishment with some members of staff in isolation, President Hakainde disclosed yesterday and warned against wild jokes on social media regarding the deadly pandemic.
And Zambia has recorded a new case of the Omicron variant since the stubborn variant emerged in November this year.
President Hichilema said at a media briefing that all efforts being made to put the country back on track would be increasingly difficult if people don’t take the pandemic seriously.
“Covid is everywhere, it’s not news from a neighbour. The virus is right here in this State House as we are talking right now, it is right here. You don’t see some of the staff here, they are in isolation and the compound that is up are affected,” he said.
Mr. Hichilema is concerned that people are taking Covid-19 as a joke by making wild claims on social media about the pandemic.
He urged Zambians to distinguish jokes and urged the general public to distinguish jokes from serious issues.
President Hichilema also called on Zambians to be vaccinated so that they are protected from the life-threatening virus.
Mr. Hichilema also urged the media to help fight the pandemic by sending the right message on Covid-19 to the public so that they take seriously the five golden rules on prevention.
“Can we make sure that as media we assist the health ministry and authority to send a message to our population to protect our people and to distinguish jokes from serious issues. The vaccines are there, let us work as a team to save lives,” he said.
And the President noted what he described as a phenomenal increase in the number of people that have received the Covid-19 vaccines after the re-launch of the vaccine programme in October this year.
Author
