The Zambian government is wary of a possible third wave of COVID-19 infections and is putting in place measures to avoid a flare up in cases over the next four months, Health Minister Jonas Chanda has warned.
Addressing the media late Tuesday, Chanda said the Lusaka authorities are bracing for a third wave of the virus that has so far claimed the lives of over 1,160 people out of the more than 85,200 cumulative cases recorded since April 2020.
The minister said the forthcoming winter months from late April to July would be critical in ensuring that there is no sudden surge in COVID-19 cases.
“Government is putting in all preventive and treatment measures since we remain with yet a small window in which to ensure we are adequately prepared to avert the situation,” Chanda told journalists in Lusaka.
He said the Zambian government was closely monitoring the situation in Kenya where main opposition leader Raila Odinga has been hospitalised amid reports of a third wave of the coronavirus in recent weeks.
There is a lot of travel between Zambia and East Africa, prompting fears that crossborder traders could easily transmit the virus.
A surge in cases has forced authorities in the East African country to extend curfew restrictions, and ban political gatherings and large social gatherings.
Kenya’s Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe told journalists last week that the country should prepare for another “difficult period”.
JN/APA