A KAFUE resident has welcomed President Edgar Lungu’s order for the town to be locked down tomorrow and allow for mass testing of the Coronavirus calling on fellow residents to cooperate.
Zambia has recorded 45 cases of the COVID-19 which has infected close to two million people and killed over a 100,000 people globally.
Three of Zambia’s cases have been recorded in Kafue with one patient who is said to have owned a popular fish shop in the town being one of the country’s two fatalities.
To curb further spread, Minister of Health Dr Chitalu Chilufya announced that President Edgar Lungu had ordered a 24-hour lockdown of Kafue to allow for the town to be disinfected and its residents tested.
Dr Chitalu appealed to Kafue residents to stay at home tomorrow and to cooperate with the health authorities saying all public places will not be open to allow for disinfection of the town.
William Chilufya, a resident of Kafue welcomed the announcement hoping that the move would finally end the stigma he says Kafue residents have endured since the news of the death of a fellow resident.
He appealed to fellow Kafue residents to support the Government by staying home tomorrow and allow health workers to conduct the screening massively and efficiently.
“As a Kafue resident am very grateful to the government for deciding to move in Kafue and allowing us to be massively screened for COVID-19. As people of Kafue we have been highly stigmatized by the general public since the unfortunate death recorded. In the eyes of many all Kafue people have COVID-19,” Chilufya told #Kalemba.
“Every time your phone rings know that its somebody asking you ati, Na Kafue ati Corona?” I feel the total lockdown for 24 hours is timely and I pray that Government manages to screen atleast over a thousand people if not all. This will give us a sense of comfort and reduce on the stigma that we are currently suffering from,” he added.
Chilufya said he would be sad if the lockdown went beyond two days because people would not survive in houses without going out to look for food.
“This is why I have commended the government for not listening to calls for nation wide total lockdowns. Most of the people live through hand to mouth, with no capacity whatsoever to save food for a week. If lockdown takes longer diseases which will come out as a result of inadequate food intake will actually kill the people,” said Chilufya.
