* 297 recoveries on Sunday, 503 on Saturday, 267 Friday, 289 Thursday
* Cumulatively, 8,945 cases have now recovered
* Of the active cases 230 are admitted with Blantyre as highest at 69 followed by Lilongwe at 52
* Positive cases out of the total translates to a positivity rate of 26.9%
* Mass gatherings are acting as super spreaders of the disease
By Duncan Mlanjira
In the past two weeks, there have been encouraging rise of COVID-19 recoveries that has cumulatively reached 8,945 as of the past 24 hours from the total number of active cases at 14,498.
However, the new cases keep rising as in the past 24 hours, the country has registered 402 new COVID-19 cases, 330 new recoveries and 10 new related deaths.
On Sunday, there were 297 recoveries, 503 on Saturday, 267 on Friday and 289 on Thursday.
Currently, a total of 230 active cases are admitted in over 20 hospitals with Blantyre having the highest at 69 followed by 52 in Lilongwe, 12 in Mzimba North, 11 each in Nkhotakota and Mulanje.
Of the new cases recorded today, 395 are local transmissions with Blantyre as the highest at 190 followed by 158 from Lilongwe and 10 from Kasungu.
The positive cases out of the total translates to a positivity rate of 26.9%.
Blantyre also had the highest related deaths six from the 10 that have been registered while two were from Chikwawa and one each from and Chiradzulu districts.
Cumulatively, Malawi has now recorded 24,365 cases including 712 deaths with case fatality rate at 2.9%.
Of these cases, 1,960 are imported infections and 22,405 are locally transmitted.
Also in the past 24 hours, 29 cases were admitted while 23 were discharged from the treatment units.
There were 1,496 COVID-19 tests that were conducted in the past 24 hours, of which 477 tests were through SARS-COV-2 Antigen Rapid Diagnostic test while the rest were through RT-PCR.
In his situation report, co-chairperson of the presidential task force on COVID-19, Dr. John Phuka says mass gatherings that include markets, public transport, workplaces, bars, family gatherings, group sports, churches and funeral ceremonies are acting as super spreaders of the disease.
“I should point it out that the more people interact, the closer in distance the interaction is — less than one meter — and the longer the interaction lasts, the higher the risk of spreading COVID-19.
“The higher the level of community transmission in an area, the higher the risk of spreading COVID-19. As we are experiencing community transmission in various areas, the risk of COVID-19 rapidly spreading is very high.
Coronavirus alert
“We have observed that in some situations, many people have become sick with COVID-19 after attending a funeral service. Let me point it out clearly that regardless whether the funeral is COVID-19 related or not, precautions have to be taken into consideration.
“To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in communities, changes need to be made to the way funerals, visitations, and memorials to the deceased are held. We need to limit the duration of the funeral ceremonies, the number of people attending the actual ceremony, the night vigils have to restricted to the family members.”
Dr. Phuka reminded the public to religiously adhere to wearing masks and to wear them properly — covering fully the mouth and nose.
Coronavirus alert
“Masks reduce the chances of getting and spreading COVID-19, particularly if social distancing cannot be maintained.
“We should also ensure that there is a provision of adequate hand washing stations. It is hard and not part of our culture but we have to adjust and change our norms for us to win this war against COVID-19.
“It is my appeal to the local and religious leaders to take heed on this important message and adjust accordingly. It is everyone’s responsibility to reduce the spread of the disease in our country,” he said.
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