* 78 recoveries in past 24 hours on Wednesday
* Total recoveries at 6,206 from total active cases of 8,082
* 992 are new cases, 17 new deaths
* 985 of new cases locally transmitted infections
* Total deaths at 353 with case fatality rate at 2.4%
* Lilongwe has highest new cases at 212 from Lilongwe
By Duncan Mlanjira
New numbers of recovered cases of COVID-19 are on the positive increase despite the country still recording rapid new cases.
Wednesday situation
In the past 24 hours of Wednesday, Malawi registered 992 new COVID-19 cases, 78 new recoveries and a worrisome high related new deaths at 17.
On Saturday there were 18 recoveries of which 562 were new cases with 9 deaths; Sunday had 42 recoveries, 685 new cases and 14 deaths; Monday’s new recoveries were 44, new cases 557 and 7 deaths while Tuesday’s recoveries were 47 with 853 new cases and 15 deaths.
This brings the number of recoveries at 6,206 from the total active cases of 8,082 with 353 deaths (case fatality rate at 2.4%).
Tuesday’s situation
Of the new cases 985 are locally transmitted infections with Lilongwe registering the highest at 212 with 124 from Zomba, 123 from Mzimba North and 117 from Blantyre.
From the number of active cases, 233 are admitted in over 20 hospitals across the country and the highest in Lilongwe at 80 and 79 at Queen Elizabeth Central.
In the past 24 hours of Wednesday, the treatment units recorded 62 new admissions and 19 in-patients were discharged.
Monday’s
Seven of the new deaths are from Lilongwe, three each from Blantyre, two from Chiradzulu, and one each from Zomba, Dowa, Thyolo, Mchinji, and Chitipa districts.
In his situation report, presidential taskforce on COVID-19 co-chairperson, Dr. John Phuka advises the public to have normal balanced diet if infected by COVID-19.
Sunday’s
He also advises patients to avoid large consumption of herbal concoctions that contain a mix of chemicals like alkaloids.
“These herbs stress important organs like the liver and the kidneys as well as increasing demand of sugar or disrupting sugar control,” he said. “These stresses on your systems are dangerous as organ failure resulting from these stresses may cause death.
Saturday’s
“Therefore, keep your diet simple enough to meet you daily needs and meet increased demand of energy due to the disease as well as maintaining good rehydration by drinking water.
“This allows the body to focus on fight and clearing the virus form your body with minimal disruption. Likewise avoid self-medication or moving from one pharmacy to the other searching for unapproved drugs.”
He warns that similar with herbs, unregulated drug consumption may lead to liver and or kidney failure that may have same consequences as the herbs.
The public is requested to promptly inform the health authorities by calling toll-free number 54747 (Airtel) or 929 (TNM) whenever one is experiencing COVID-19 like symptoms such as fever, cough, flu, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell and tiredness.
Numbers to call
The continued advice on calling for medical response is because there is general late-seeking behavior among patients — eventually arriving at treatment units while in severe state or pronounced dead on arrival.
“We need to report early for good treatment outcomes,” Dr. Phuka says. “COVID-19 is preventable and we can effectively reduce and stop the spread of the disease.”
He thus pleads with the public to comprehensively following all the preventive and containment measures to become “our daily routine regardless of status — frequent handwashing with soap; proper wearing of mask; avoiding over-crowded places, practicing cough and sneeze etiquette; staying home if you have flu like symptoms and decontaminating commonly touched surfaces.
Coronavirus alert