The Copperbelt Energy Corporation PLC (CEC) has donated COVID-19 test kits worth K1.7m ($95,000) to Zambia’s Ministry of Health.
Reynolds Bowa, vice chairman, CEC Board of Directors, stated that being in the electricity industry that demands the safety of people above everything else at all times, CEC understood very well the demands that had been placed on the population by COVID-19 and the financial burden needed to observe the safety requirements that come along with it because health and safety are critical.
“It is with this in mind that we have sourced COVID-19 test kits and reagents worth $95,000 equivalent to K1.7m to assist the Ministry of Health in its continued ramping up of testing the population because it is only through widespread testing that as many cases as possible can be captured, leading to reduction of continued infections” Bowa added.
He reiterated that CEC identifies with the adjustments and added costs that members of the public, business entities and the Zambian government, have had to take on as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We recognise that no one individual or organisation can fight this battle alone,” he said.
CEC expects the test kits and reagents to be in the country within the next two weeks and have been procured on the recommendation of the Ministry of Health, both in terms of specifications and vendors/suppliers, to ensure compliance with what is needed; and can test up to 4,000 samples and give results at a rate of 376 samples every two hours.
