Zambia on Monday shut its border with Tanzania after the country witnessed the highest spike of Covid-19 infections over the weekend.
As it increased testing, Zambia recorded 85 cases in a single day with three deaths linked to Covid-19 on Saturday.
According to The Citizen, 76 of the new cases were recorded in Nakonde, the border town with Tunduma in Tanzania.
The following day the country recorded 15 new cases after 250 tests.
In wake of the spike in infections, Zambia’s Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya said the country would temporarily close the Nakonde border starting Monday, May 11.
“No traffic will be allowed in and out of the district,” Dr. Chilufya said.
Since the two countries are part of the Southern African Development Community, the Zambian minister said that bilateral and cross-border collaboration in public health remains vital in addressing Covid-19 pandemic.
The period for the temporary closure of the Nakonde border will be determined by how the disease progresses, he added.
“Measures such as deployment of adequate human resource to avoid any disruption to key economic sectors are being put in place,” the minister was quoted as saying.
