A rise in coronavirus deaths is putting pressure on Zambian mortuaries and health facilities, a senior government official said on Monday.

The surge in daily cases and deaths in the third wave of the pandemic has resulted in reduced capacity in the mortuaries to hold the bodies for people dying in hospitals and communities.

"The number of daily COVID-19 deaths is unprecedented. We report 407 deaths in just three weeks of the third wave," Kennedy Malama, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health in charge of Technical Services said.

He said the increased cases have left both government and private hospitals offering treatment facilities heavily burdened with patients, many of whom require intensive and critical care.

According to him, the number of critical patients has gone up from just four in the past month to 131, adding that the situation could worsen as the peak of the third wave has not yet started.

He further said the oxygen demand has gone up from just 32 patients on oxygen a month ago to 701 with the majority requiring high flow of oxygen.

Meanwhile, the country recorded 1,598 new cases in the last 24 hours out of 6,369 tests done. This brings the cumulative cases to 130,631 with a death toll of 1,691.