By Duncan Mlanjira
Co-chairperson of Presidential Taskforce Force on COVID-19, Dr. John Phuka is urging the public to eat healthy foods to prevent, fight and recover from COVID-19 infections.
Dr. Phuka said this in his situation report in which he reported of 68 new COVID-19 cases that were registered on Tuesday, 26 of which are new recoveries and one new death that occurred in Mzimba North.
“As we continue the fight against COVID-19, I would like to emphasise of the importance of good diet and physical activity,” said the doctor.
“During this pandemic, it is important to eat a healthy diet free from contamination. What we eat and drink can affect our body’s ability to prevent, fight and recover from infections.
Dr. Phuka
“Therefore, I want to encourage everyone to eat a diversified diet comprising of six food groups as this associated with the best immune status.
“As we improve our diets during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to practice proper food safety and food hygiene to reduce risk of infections from contaminated food.
“Therefore, eat clean food and always wash hands before eating and before feeding children. Do the same after visiting toilet.”
He reiterated that it is also important to stay physically active during this time of COVID-19 pandemic.
“Regular physical activity benefits both the body and mind and it is associated controlled high blood pressure, well-managed weight and reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and various cancers.
“All these conditions can increase susceptibility to COVID-19. Watch your distance! Wash your hands! Wear your mask! Stay safe,” Dr Phuka said.
Coronavirus alert
He reported that of the new cases 67 are locally transmitted infections and one is an imported, which was identified a new arrival at Dzaleka refugee camp in Dowa.
Of the locally transmitted infections, 26 each are from Blantyre and Lilongwe, 11 from Chitipa, two from Mchinji, one each from Dedza and Ntchisi.
Cumulatively, Malawi has recorded 5,193 cases including 163 deaths and of these cases, 1,089 are imported infections and 4,104 are locally transmitted.
Coronavirus alert
Cumulatively, 2,716 cases have now recovered bringing the total number of active cases to 2,314.
The average age of the cases is 35 years, the youngest case being aged 1 month, the oldest being 98 years old and 67.9% are male.
The country has so far conducted 40,106 COVID-19 tests in 45 COVID-19 testing sites of which 342 tests have been done in the past 24 hours on Tuesday.
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