Zambia faces the threat of being overwhelmed by coronavirus cases due to citizens consistently failing to follow regulations put in place by the government, a public health agency warned.
The Zambia National Public Health Institute (NPHI) said that failure of citizens to adhere to prevention and safety regulations had been identified as the nation’s weakest point in the government response to the pandemic.
Victor Mukonka said that the country needed to act now or risk being overburdened by the increasing cases. He added that the government will begin releasing preventive information at the individual level to improve compliance levels.
“The fight is still on. It is not just government fight. It requires the other side to respond as well,” Mukonka told journalists at a daily COVID-19 briefing.
The Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya echoed Mukonka’s sentiments noting that community engagement was vital to the country’s response improving.
Chilufya said that security officers will be deployed to public places to ensure full compliance with the public health regulations.
Chilufya said that an increase in the number of confirmed cases and COVID-19 related deaths meant that it could not be business as usual.
An example of Zambians flouting COVID-19 regulations was witnessed in the country’s top football league, the Zambia Super League. The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) was forced to end the season early, just weeks after it had resumed, because clubs had failed to adhere to COVID-19 regulations.
On Tuesday, Zambia reported 65 new confirmed cases raising the nationwide total to 8,275. The country has also reported 241 deaths and 7,004 recoveries in total.
