By KETRA KALUNGA
BEREAVED families have been to bury their relatives who die from Covid-19 within 24 hours to create space in mortuaries in Lusaka.
Lusaka Province Permanent Secretary Elias Kamanga, said families should work towards burying their deceased relatives within 24 hours as mortuaries were full.
Mr Kamanga said the increased number of people dying of the pandemic in Lusaka had outstripped the capacity of mortuaries which were already at 100 percent full.
He said in an interview that the province risks having a situation where there would be no mortuary space if the provincial administration does not come up with the means of disposing of the bodies within 24 hours.
Mr Kamanga said the province already has a number of hospitals with mortuaries that are full hence the need for the public to consider the government’s appeal.
“We appeal to our people to ensure that every time we have a fatality, the body of our beloved is disposed of within 24 hours so that we don’t outstrip the capacity of the hospitals in terms of mortuary space,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Kamanga said Government would consider enforcing coercive measures to compel people to mask up when in public in line with a statutory instrument (SI) issue on wearing masks.
He said it was sad that despite a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases especially in Lusaka, most people were not masking up in public places and on public vehicles.
Mr. Kamanga said if the trend continues, the government would be forced to put in place stringent measures to compel people to adhere to the guidelines on Covid-19.
He said the risk of uncontrolled infection and transmission of Covid-19 to the country is quite huge, hence the need to protect the security of the nation and keep the wheels of the economy running.
“We will be forced to start mounting random roadblocks to inspect the public vehicles and ensure that marketeers who are not masking up are not allowed to enter the marketplaces,” he said.
