Authorities in Zambia on Monday announced the closure of nightclubs, casinos and other drinking places following continued flouting of COVID-19 preventive guidelines.
The places will be operating on a take-away basis for the next 14 days subject to review. Earlier, the authorities had permitted the drinking places to be operating from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Mathew Ngulube, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government said the monitoring of the places has established continued flouting of the preventive guidelines, a situation that was contributing to a spike in cases.
“Clearly, there is a large challenge in terms of compliance to operating within the stipulated hours as well as observing the five golden rules,” he told reporters during a press briefing on the COVID-19 situation.
He further said gymnasiums will remain closed except for outdoor activities while churches will be monitored for compliance and adherence to the health preventive guidelines.
According to him, the local authorities have enhanced monitoring on the adherence to the preventive measures in the markets and bus stations and warned that the government will have no option but to close the places if the measures will not be adhered to.
The government has put in place various preventative measures to stem a rise in cases in the third wave.
So far schools have been closed while the holding of campaign rallies ahead of this year’s general elections have also been suspended.
In the last 24 hours, the country recorded 1,093 new cases, bringing the cumulative cases to 149,661. The country also discharged 1,859 patients during the same period, bringing the total recoveries to 126,441.
However, 69 people died during the same period, bringing the total deaths to 2,091.
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