• Govt has received support from US Government amounting to 500, 000 US Dollars towards Covid-19 response.
• This is a show of confidence by the US government in the Zambian government’s Covid-19 response.
• Ministry of Health further acknowledgers all cooperating partners for their continued support.
Government says it has received US$500, 000 support from the United States government towards the fight against Covid-19.
Speaking during the routine COVID-19 briefings in Lusaka, Health Minister Dr. Jonas Chanda disclosed that the funds will go towards the purchase of commodities, equipment and temporal recruitment of health care workers.
Dr. Chanda said the financial support is an indication that the US government still has confidence in Zambia’s fight against the pandemic, adding that it is gratifying to note that cooperating partners have remained by government’s side and continue to offer unwavering support.
“In the spirit of transparency and accountability of resources committed by our cooperating partners and stakeholders, I wish to inform the nation that we have received support from the United States Government amounting to 500, 000 US Dollars towards the Covid-19 response. This will include purchase of commodities and equipment and recruitment of temporary staff health care workers towards this fight.”
“The Ministry of Health further acknowledgers all our weather friends, the cooperating partners for their continued support to the Zambian government and the Covid-19 response in particular, at a time when governments the world over are grappling with their own individual response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is gratifying to note that our partners have remained by our side and continue to offer unwavering support,” Dr. Chanda said.
And Dr. Chanda stated that following the reopening of borders by countries in Southern Africa, government will remain vigilant to the risk of importation of diseases through the country’s entry points.
“We have engaged our counterparts in neighboring countries through our cross border surveillance initiatives. In line with SADC protocol on health, we have called on member states to contribute to the regional effort for coordinated disease surveillance, epidemic control and health security.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Chanda disclosed that Cabinet is still in the process of finalizing the acquisition and deployment of the Covid-19 vaccine.
He reassured the nation that government will only recommend and approve a vaccine that is safe and efficacious.
“As we finalize our preparations to obtain cabinet approval for the Covid-19 vaccine acquisition and deployment, we are closely monitoring the global situation with some notable and worrying reports of fake vaccines on the global market which are less efficacious towards some variance of the Coronavirus. I wish to reiterate our commitment to the Zambian people that government will only recommend and approve a vaccine that is safe and efficacious for deployment. There will no room for fake or substandard vaccines in Zambia,” he assured.
The Minister also revealed that the country has recorded 575 new Covid-19 cases with 15 deaths in the last 24 hours.
He said the new cases are out of the 5,249 tests done in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative number of cases to 70, 823 and the death toll to 974, while the total number of recoveries stand at 63, 609.
Dr. Chanda further disclosed that the country currently has 6, 240 Covid-19 active cases out of which 319 are hospitalized in various isolation facilities, while 5,921 are under community management.