By Bennie Mundando
THE Copperbelt Provincial medical team says it will only conduct COVID-19 tests on people leaving the country, patients with medical conditions in hospitals, primary contacts to COVID patients and Brought In-Dead (BID) cases.
In a letter to the Occupation Health and Safety Institute dated August 10, 2020, Provincial Health Director Robert Zulu says only those who fall under these four categories are eligible for testing.
Dr. Zulu says the change of strategy is as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak in Zambia having reached phase four, which means that the virus is all over the population.
“The Ministry of Health through the Zambia National Public Health Institute have indicated that the COVID-19 outbreak in Zambia has reached phase four. This means that the virus has spread everywhere and is in all categories of the Zambian population. Any country in phase four of the outbreak changes management and control strategies as provided by the World Heath Organisation.
“In view of the foregoing, our office can only facilitate testing individuals who meet the above criteria and meet the case definition for COVID-19. Our office is available to respond to any questions or clarifications on this subject matter,” reads the letter in part.
