People should be calm and take precautionary measures against Covid-19 virus because there is only so much the ministry can do to prevent a major outbreak, says Ministry of Health spokesperson Dr Abel Kabalo.

In an interview, Wednesday, Dr Kabalo said the ministry could disseminate information on how to prevent infection but the major responsibility was on individuals.

“You know, we can disseminate information, we can give all the guidelines but of course, for us to prevent any outbreak is at individual level, to ensure we maintain the highest level of hygiene, we put in precautionary measures whereby if you know that person could have been in contact with a high risk area, you wear masks, self-isolation, especially for those that have been in risky places, those are some of the things that we are advising,” Dr Kabalo said.

“The minister will give a ministerial statement, people should just be calm and ensure that they take precautionary measures. They shouldn’t rush to where things are happening, if they hear there is a suspect here, that’s where you rush. Otherwise as Zambia we haven’t had any Coronavirus case. You know, we are doing what we can but of course majority of the stuff has to be done by the citizens themselves.”

He urged citizens to be alert at all times and report any suspicions to the ministry.

“So this not only for the ministry and I got to make this very clear, I think its the whole nation that should respond and ensure that we have high levels of alertness, high knowledge of suspicion and ensuring that you give feedback on any suspects or of any suspicious things that are happening. So as newspapers, it’s very important that we continue sensitizing the people and of course updates will be given. But as it were right now, there is no case of Coronavirus,” said Dr Kabalo.