During a press briefing which Human Resources for Health Coalition organised Friday, Healthcare workers have threatened to go on strike if the government fails to fulfill their demands in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The health workers have demanded that the government provide all health facilities with adequate life-saving equipment, particularly oxygen cylinders and concentrators. In addition to this, the government should also establish oxygen plants, and to recruit more health care workers by March 1 this year.

Two days after the conference, as the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) called out the Tonse administration for having a “lacklasture” approach towards the second wave of the pandemic in the country, President Lazarus Chakwera recently announced a K17 billion strategy aimed at facilitating the hiring of new healthcare frontline workers and the construction of new treatment units to complement overwhelmed public hospitals. Under new restrictions, the introduction of night curfews from 21:00 local time to 5am and the reduction of public gatherings from 100 people to 50.