By Duncan Mlanjira
As the country awaits the arrival of 20,000 testing kits in early September, which have been donated by the Government of China, co-chairperson of Presidential Taskforce Force on COVID-19, Dr. John Phuka has said there is need to rationalize the use of the limited number of test kits stock currently in stock.
In his situation report on Wednesday, Dr. Phuka following the limited number of test kits, testing is currently only been done on those that are showing symptoms.
“For asymptomatic patients there is no need for re-testing to discharge someone for as long as one remains asymptomatic for 10 days from the day of diagnosis.
Coronavirus alert
“Some people are demanding to be tested for discharge even if they
were asymptomatic at personal level or on demand from workplaces — this is wasting our limited resources.
“Please be guided by our protocols and do not move from one testing centre to another when you are not satisfied with the test results.
“The test results are highly technical, so please rely on our expert’s guidance. I call upon senior people in workplaces to ensure that your protocols are correspond with our guidance.
Coronavirus alert
Two weeks ago, the Chinese Government donated medical supplies to Malawi Government to assist health workers in the fight against COVID-19 that included 150,000 surgical masks ,15,000 N95 masks, 7,000 protective clothing, 7,000 goggles, 7,000 pairs of gloves and 300 pairs of show covers.
The medical supplies were handed over through the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DODMA).
Agreement between Malawi and China
In his situation report, Dr. Phuka said as of Wednesday evening, Malawi registered 47 new COVID-19 cases, 141 new recoveries and one new death that occurred in Zomba.
All new cases are locally transmitted infections of which 23 are from Blantyre, 14 from Mzimba North, six from Lilongwe (one is a healthcare worker), two each from Karonga and Nkhata Bay.
Cumulatively, Malawi has recorded 5,240 cases including 164 deaths and of these cases, 1,089 are imported infections and 4,151 are locally transmitted.
Cumulatively, 2,857 cases have now recovered bringing the total number of active cases to 2,219.
The country has so far conducted 40,640 tests in 45 COVID-19 testing sites of which 534 tests have been done in the past 24 hours of Wednesday evening.
Coronavirues alert: Respect to health workers