Zambia has recorded 108 new cholera cases in the last 24 hours bringing the total cumulative number to 2,600.

Giving a daily update at State House today, Health Minister Dr Chitalu Chilufya also said all cholera patients had been shifted to National Heroes stadium where they will be treated.

Meanwhile, Dr Chilufya said six food outlets which were closed have been reopened.

“May I take this opportunity to tell you also that today, we have recorded a 108 new cases and cumulative number of cases has gone to just over 2, 600 and we have one brought in dead who died within the first hour of admission and is classified as a BID. We have shifted our patients to the national heroes which has been declared a hospital and the facility is very good and out patients are receiving the best of care,” said Dr Chilufya.

“Preventive measures are still ongoing, the curfew that we slapped on Kanyama as authorised by the President is holding and we have seen already a slam in the number of new cholera cases. So we will continue keeping you posted as the epidemic evolves. We are slowly sliding back into the normal operations of business because we are reinspecting places that we may have closed down so that if they have complied we reopen them. We have already reopened six places, three Hungry Lion outlets have been opened, one Choppies is being opened today and we are re-accessing all the other places that we closed down. We are working closely with the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) to establish a place of safe trading so that we can get back to business very quickly.”

And Local Government Minister Vincent Mwale said bars and night clubs should ensure that customers are only allowed to buy drinks and consume them elsewhere to avoid crowding.

Mwale said bars that would not comply risked having their licenses suspended for a period not less than three years.

“Let me also clarify and remind the people that in the epi centres, bars and night clubs must close, this is non, negotiable. I have said that bars and night clubs that do not comply with this risk losing their licenses for a period not less than three years because we want to control this epidemic. And in the areas outside the epi centre, we have allowed bars to operate from 11:00 hours to 19: 00 hours and the reason is that we must keep the wheels of the economy running. We want to make sure we are talking to bar owners, they must allow our inspectors to go through to check the sanitary conditions , they must provide hand washing facilities, must make sure that people buy and don’t congregate in those bars but they buy and go and consume somewhere else. We want to make sure that as we are dealing with this matter, we also keep the economy functioning very well,” said Mwale.