Truck drivers moving Covid-19

NOW that it is clear that truck drivers are playing a major role in the spread of the deadly coronavirus, there is need for Government to seriously consider upscaling preventive health measures at all border towns. Of the 174 new Covid-19 cases Zambia recorded from the tests validated in 72 hours in four provinces as of Tuesday, 66 were truck drivers who entered the country through various border posts. Arguably, 66 is just a tip of the iceberg and a pointer of what to expect from the rest of the country’s border points which truckers use to enter and exit the country. This scenario is a serious source of concern and is a wakeup call for Government to make all border towns such as Nakonde major focal points in the fight against Covid-19. In view of this, it would be prudent for Government to extend mass screening and testing to all the border towns instead of waiting any longer. Truck drivers by nature of their work, enter and exit the country through the country’s border points in various provinces and, therefore, it wouldn’t be wrong to conclude these areas are equally potentially hotspots like Nakonde. It is a fact that the truck drivers spend days in border towns as they wait for official clearance of their cargo, either to enter or leave the country and depending on the levels of congestion, they may even spend weeks at a particular port of entry. It is during this time that they interact with the local community and in the process transmit the virus that is if they managed to evade being quarantined. Strict quarantine rules should apply to all truck drivers and those who evade the authorities should be dealt with accordingly. But apart from the problem of truck drivers, the situation is exacerbated by that fact that life in border towns is generally tightly woven with those of neighbouring communities who are always moving across borders for business or indeed other reasons. Chances of human-to-human transmission are therefore undeniably high as people move across borders to trade without necessarily bothering to adhere to the public health preventive measures. This is why like Chief Chipepo of Chirundu, we believe it would be wise to extend the lockdown measures applied in Nakonde, to Chirundu and other busy border towns to stop the spread of the virus. Early this week, Chief Chipepo suggested that Government considers extending the lockdown measures to Chirundu because of the escalating number of Covid-19 cases in neighbouring countries. In fact, the best is to screen and test truck drivers right at the port of entry so that those who test positive could be quarantined there and then, as opposed to allowing then entry only to quarantine them afterwards at Heroes Stadium or the University of Zambia. Prevention is better than cure, therefore, there is no harm for the Ministry of Health and its multilateral partners to make all border points focal points in as far as screening, testing and disinfecting the areas is concerned to curtail the spread of the virus. But that is not all, there is also need to heighten sensitisation on Covid-19 in border towns where people have also been reluctant to adhere to the guidelines despite living in potentially highly infected areas. Levels of ignorance on the disease are still high in some parts of the country and those in border towns are no exception. Therefore, enlightening residents of border towns about the deadly pandemic, would help them avoid exposing themselves to truck drivers and others positive people from whom they could contract the disease. Unless truck drivers who are Covid-19 positive are found and isolated, they will continue to spread the disease across the country. The Sun