COVID-19 DEATHS DECLINE
By ADRIAN MWANZA
THERE has been a reduction in the number of Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours from eight to five casualties.
According to a statement from Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary for Technical Services Dr Kennedy Malama, the country recorded five mortalities which were all classified as Covid-19 deaths.
Northern Province had the highest number with two casualties while Luapula, Lusaka and Southern provinces all had a death each.
Dr Malama said the cumulative number of Covid-19 related deaths recorded to date stands at 3, 569 classified as 2, 679 Covid-19 deaths and 890 Covid-19 associated deaths.
He said the local Covid-19 situation continued to be encouraging with sustained reduction in positivity, hospitalisation and deaths in the past three weeks.
‘’We recorded 425 new confirmed Covid-19 cases out of 8, 158 tests five percent positivity and the cumulative number of confirmed cases recorded to date stands at 203, 978,” he said.
He said they discharged 531 patients 16 from facilities and 515 from community management, bringing the cumulative number of recoveries to 198, 009 representing 97 percent recovered.
Dr Malama said there are 2, 400 active cases, with 2, 219 (92 percent) under community management and 181 (eight percent) admitted to Covid-19 isolation facilities. He said to this effect, Government and its strategic partners were heightening its investment not only in surveillance and case finding but the laboratory and diagnosis pillar so that they were consistent in their performance.
Dr Malama urged the public not to delay in seeking health care when unwell from any illness.
He said he had continued seeing people coming to health facilities when damage had already occurred to their vital organs making it difficult to save lives.
Dr Malama said the vaccination pillar had posted a number of significant milestones, among them the vaccination of approximately 40 percent of all health care workers in the country.
