THE Ministry of Health has announced that the country has recorded 1,289 new COVID-19 cases out of 11,862 tests done with 16 deaths in the last 24 hours.

And Zambia Correctional Services Commissioner General Dr Chisela Chileshe says over 60 inmates and correctional officers have tested positive to COVID-19 with one life lost in Chipata.

According to the daily update, the Ministry noted that 920 patients were discharged bringing the number of recoveries to 41,282 out of a total of 48,911 COVID-19 cases.

The country currently has 6,941 active cases 492 currently admitted in various facilities across the country.

And Chileshe revealed that over 60 inmates and correctional officers had tested positive to COVID-19.

“Honorable Minister, I should take this privilege to inform you that we are doing fairly well in terms of the control and prevention of the COVID-19. I should report that we have lost one life in Chipata and that life of an inmate, a precious life lost due to other complications other than the COVID-19…Amongst our officers, so far we have recorded about 30 officers who have COVID-19 countrywide and we have about 30 inmates who have recorded positive results countrywide. So we are talking about a figure of 60 and 70 cases within the correctional facilities and our officers, our inmates who are frontliners in the fight of this COVID-19 are doing tremendously well and these numbers I can safely say there is no one who is symptomatic,” said Dr Chileshe during a briefing at Mukobeko maximum correctional facility, Wednesday.