Former Zambia leader hospitalised amid virus surge

Zambia's first president Kenneth Kaunda, 97, has been admitted to hospital, his office announced on Monday, as the southern African country battles a surge in COVID-19 cases. Kaunda asked for “all Zambians and the international community to pray for him", according to a statement issued by Kaunda's administrative assistant. Zambia, with a population of about 18 million people, has seen a dramatic rise over the past two weeks in the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases. Zambia has a cumulative total of nearly 108,000 confirmed cases, including 1,348 deaths, according to figures released by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday.