Increase In Covid-19 Hospitalization Worrying – MOH

Minister of Health Jonas Chanda says despite a reduction in the number of new COVID- 19 cases, Zambia has continued to observe a stagnation in the number of cases requiring hospitalisation, with a slight increases in admissions and critical cases noted in the past few days.

Dr. Chanda says the development is a reminder of the fact that community transmission is still ongoing and people remain at risk of contracting the disease.

In a statement issued to ZANIS in Lusaka today, the Minister has encouraged health workers to maintain a high index of suspicion even in spite of the reduced numbers of cases being recorded in order to timely isolate and treat cases while ensuring that the chains of transmission are broken.

And Dr. Chanda indicated that as the Ministry continues with setting up of community vaccination sites, 236 vaccination site across the country have been set up with a target of setting up at least 50 more sites.

“As part of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, we have also continued to closely monitor any reports of adverse effects following immunization through the Zambia Medical Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA),” the Minister stated.

Meanwhile, Dr. Chanda announced that in the last 24hrs, 7,266 doses were administered bringing the cumulative number of vaccinated persons to 39, 300.

He added that 84 new confirmed cases were recorded out of 6,500 tests conducted bringing the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 91, 670.

“On an encouraging note, no new deaths were recorded in the last 24hrs. The cumulative number of COVDI-19 related deaths stands at 1,251 classified as 703 COVID deaths and 548 COVID-19 associated deaths,” he said.

Dr. Chanda noted that a total of 79 discharges were recorded from both the COVID-19 isolated facilities and home management bringing the cumulative number of total recoveries to 90, 012.

He added that there are currently 407 active cases of whom 356 are under community management and 51 are admitted to COVID-19 facilities while 37 are on oxygen therapy and 11 in critical condition.

This article originally appeared on Lusaka Times