• Immediate disciplinary action has been taken against two individuals from the University Teaching Hospital.
• They were identified from a recent media expose, where they were illegally collecting money from patients for COVID-19 tests.
• One person is already in police custody.

Minister of Health says disciplinary action has been taken against two individuals at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) who were recently exposed by the media for illegally collecting money from patients for Covid-19 tests.
Updating the nation on the latest Covid-19 statistics, Dr. Jonas Chanda said one of the individuals has since been arrested.
Dr. Chanda lamented that it is saddening to note that some unscrupulous individuals have been taking advantage of unsuspecting members of the public for selfish gains, at a time when the Ministry is working tirelessly to restore confidence of partners and Zambians in the country’s health system.
He said it is in this vain that the testing facility at the UTH-Out patient department has been restructured, adding that internal investigations have been instituted and extended to several departments in order to identify the full extent of the illegal dealings.
Dr. Chanda stated that government will not allow the image of the Ministry to be dented by a few bad elements, stressing the need for all dealings at every level to be done with total accountability and transparency.
“It is disheartening that while the Ministry of Health under the guidance of President Edgar Lungu has been working tirelessly to restore the confidence of partners and Zambians in the health system, some unscrupulous individuals have been taking advantage of people who seek health care services.”
“Let this serve as a warning to all would be offenders across the country in all heath facilities, Ministry of Health and Statutory Bodies, that no bad eggs will be spared. We are in the business of serving lives not taking advantage of our people. We will take disciplinary action against all culprits including instant dismissals, as provided for under the public service,” Dr. Chanda warned.
Meanwhile, Dr. Chanda revealed that the country has recorded 687 new Covid-19 cases with 8 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative number of cases to date to 77, 171 and the death toll to 1, 059, adding that the cases are out of the 6, 225 tests conducted.
Dr. Chanda stated that 997 people have been discharged representing 92 recovery rate, while the number of active cases stands at 5, 312 out of which 278 are hospitalized and 5, 034 under community management.
“The cases were reported from the following provinces; Lusaka 155, 165 Luapula, 133 Copperbelt, 63 Eastern, 39 Southern, 25 Muchinga, 22 North-western, 20 Western, 18 Central, and 17 Northern.”
“On a sad note, we recorded 8 deaths from the following provinces; Copperbelt 2, Lusaka 2, Eastern 1, Luapula 1, Northern 1 and North-western 1.Of those admitted, 199 are on Oxygen therapy and 52 are in critical condition,” the Minister said.