MINISTRY of Health Director of Infectious Diseases Professor Lloyd Mulenga says more men compared to women have been diagnosed with COVID-19, with a ratio of about 54 percent for males and about 46 percent for females.

And Health Minister Sylvia Masebo says the ministry has continued to see a trend where those who are not vaccinated are the ones getting hospitalised.

The two were speaking during a media briefing last week Friday.

“We have a lot more men who have been diagnosed with Covid compared to women with a ratio of about 54 percent men and for women about 46 percent. In terms of which areas the cases have been concentrating around, it’s Lusaka and Copperbelt but also North-Western Province, for now, has been recording a higher number of cases. Muchinga incidentally also had a number of high cases the past one week, but overall the cases have been concentrating around Lusaka, Copperbelt and around North-Western Province, that is the distribution and also the gender representation of Covid,” Prof Mulenga said.

And Masebo said the ministry had continued to see a trend where those who were not vaccinated were the ones getting hospitalised.

“We have continued to see a trend that those who are not vaccinated are the ones getting hospitalized. We shall be providing an opportunity for those that are not vaccinated to access the vaccine during this coming national wide campaign which is scheduled for the 14th of May, 2022 and it will run for 10 days. This is to allow adequate social mobilisation with our multi-sectoral team such as local authorities. This will also help Zambia reach the international target which has been set at 70 percent by the end of June,” she said.

Masebo also urged the church to assist in mobilising people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

“If you look at that way of mobilising [people to get vaccinated], we have not achieved much, because we feel that the best organ for mobilisation is not Ministry of Health, but Ministry of Local Government. Because Ministry of Local Government are the custodians of communities, they have the elected officials which are councilors, mayors, council chairpersons. They also have traditional leaders, they are the owners of the people, and the other group that has a good following is the church. Zambia being a Christian nation, it is important that the church are engaged to assist in the mobilisation [exercise],” said Masebo.

She further commended the media for playing a leading role in educating and sensitising the general public about COVID-19, adding that fighting the vice was a collective responsibility in which all sectors should play a role.