By ADRIAN MWANZA
THE removal of Zambia from the UK red list of Covid-19 affected countries will spur the nation’s economy, says the Economic Association of Zambia (EAZ). EAZ president Lubinda Haabazoka said the UK was a financial centre where businesses were conducted but that the coming of Covid hampered this because people were forced to quarantine for long periods. Dr Haabazoka said that human capital would now easily access that country after Zambia continued to record low positive numbers in new Covid-19 cases.
“Quarantine came at a huge cost and most people who physically needed to travel to the UK were not doing so because of the number of stringent measures that were put in place,” he said. Meanwhile, Dr Haabazoka said the move would trigger a positive trend for Zambia as the country would see an upswing in numbers of tourists from the UK.
He said most tourists were scared to come to Zambia because it was on the red list of countries that were prone to Covid-19. “With the figures being recorded we expect other countries to lift restrictions on Zambia because the country was recording reduced cases of Covid-19 cases,” Dr Haabazoka said.
And British High Commissioner to Zambia Nicholas Woolley confirmed that Zambia would from next Monday be removed from the UK red list of Covid-19 affected countries whose citizens could not enter the United Kingdom. Mr. Wooley has thanked the Zambian government for the good collaboration which has made this decision to be possible.
“I know how difficult the last 10 months were for so many who rely on Zambia/ UK links. Grateful to the Zambian government including Health Minister Sylvia Masebo and the Ministry of Health including the Zambia Public Health Institute for close collaboration that made today’s decision possible,” Mr Wooley tweeted.
