Health authorities in Zambia have warned of a “devastating” situation in the southern African country, as Covid-19 cases continue to rise.
In a statement on Monday, Health Permanent Secretary Dr Kennedy Malama said the country was battling a third wave of infections, noting daily Covid-19 fatalities and a reduced capacity in mortuaries.
“Looking at the evolution of the Covid-19 Situation in our country over the past month, it is indeed a conformation that this third wave has been devastating.
“We continue seeing an unprecedented increase in Covid-19 cases, hospitalisations and even deaths. This time last month, we had only 50 patients in our facilities; today we have over a thousand Covid-19 cases in our healthcare facilities.
“The number of critical patients has gone up in the past month, from just four (4) critical patients recorded on 21st May to today having 131 in critical condition. The saddest part of it all is we are still on an upward trend with the peak of this wave not yet in sight.
“… We also note reduced capacity in our mortuaries to hold the bodies for those dying in hospitals and in the communities,” said Malama.
He said that oxygen demand had also gone up, “from having just 32 patients on oxygen countrywide a month ago to now having 701 patients on oxygen with the majority requiring high flow oxgygen”.
“The number of daily Covid-19 deaths is unprecedented. We report 407 deaths in just three weeks of the third wave,” he said, adding that the hospitals both public and private offering Covid-19 isolation and treatment facilities were heavily burdened with patients, many of whom required intensive and critical care.
On June 16, the country announced strict measures to help curb the rise in Covid-19 infections. These included, the closure of schools for 21 days.
Amid a rise in Covid-19 cases, Govt of Zambia announces new measures incl:
-Closure of schools for 21 days.
-places of worship to hold maximum of 2 meetings in a week.
-bars, clubs, casinos closed Monday-Thurs, open on wkend= 6pm-10pm pic.twitter.com/ABW8qRkKQa— Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) June 16, 2021
The surge in infections has coincided with campaigns for the 12 August general election, which kicked off on 12 May.
PICTURE: Twitter/@OpenParlyZED)
By Betha Madhomu
