By JULIET MWAKWAMA and Flavior Kanungo
THERE is low stocks of Covid-19 test kits following increased uptake by members of the public, Ministry of Health permanent secretary administration George Magwende has said.
And Health Minister Sylvia Masebo said government had revised the testing criteria for Covid-19 in order to maximize on resources as the transmission during the fourth wave remained high.
But this led to speculation that the country had run out of test kits for covid19.
However Dr Magwende has described as mere speculation the information that some health facilities have run out of covid19 test kits.
He said the government would not allow the country to run to zero stock as it is doing everything possible to restock.
“We still have the test kits and people are testing even today, but the stocks are getting lower and lower because the uptake is high, but to say that we are running to zero no, we will not allow that,”. Dr Magwende said.
Meanwhile, Government has revised the testing criteria for covid-19 in order to maximize on resources as the transmission rate remains high, Health Minister Sylvia Masebo has said.
Ms Masebo says priority will now be given to those with symptoms, those at risk of developing severe disease, health care workers and those admitted in health facilities with various ailments.
According to the minister, this is because one in every three Zambians is infected, with increased community transmission and therefore, the ministry cannot cope with widespread testing.
Ms Masebo said this during the covid-19 update yesterday and implored school managements across the country to assess their environments and put in place measures that protect learners and staff from the pandemic.
She also said 2,806 children aged between 12 and 17 years have been vaccinated against covid-19 to date.
Meanwhile, Ms Masebo says Zambia has recorded 1,485 new covid-19 cases out of 5,389 tests conducted in the last 24 hours.
She has emphasized that the proportion of unvaccinated people getting infected and requiring oxygen support remains high at 87 percent of those admitted.
Covid19 test kits run out?
