By Duncan Mlanjira
From the 62 COVID-19 tests that were conducted in the past 24 hours of Tuesday, the country registered two new cases, two new recoveries and no new deaths.
Cumulatively, Malawi has recorded 5,772 cases including 179 deaths and of these cases, 4,245 cases have now recovered bringing the total number of active cases to 1,348.
In his situation report, co-chairperson of presidential taskforce on COVID-19, Dr. John Phuka, continues to reiterate that even though the pandemic has reached low levels, there is still the need to even increase all effort to clear the disease completely.
Coronavirus alert
“It is clear that we still have pockets of the disease and we should not relent our efforts in fighting the disease.
“Sadly, I have observed that some people are relaxing in practicing preventive measures. We need a collaborative effort to effectively suppress the pockets of the virus from spreading again and creating another wave of the severe disease.
“This is also more important as we continue to open our social and economic activities (schools, airports and sports).
“To protect gains we have made so far, we should continue to frequently and thoroughly wash our hands with soap, wearing our masks properly, frequently cleaning and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces and objects.
Coronavirus alert
“We should continue observe physical distance of at least 1 meter between yourself and others, practice cough etiquette and avoid going to crowded places,” says Dr. Phuka.
Meanwhile, Africa is also making tremendous strides in the fight against the pandemic as of Monday, September 28, confirmed cases from 55 African countries were at 1,460,328 while recoveries were at 1,207,261 — giving the number of active cases at 253,067.
Total reported deaths in Africa were at 35,163 with South Africa being hit the most as from the total cases of 670,766, the related deaths were at 16,398.
From the numbers compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University using statistics from the World Health Organization and other international institutions as well national and regional public health departments, other most-affected countries include Egypt (102,840 cases), Morocco (117,685), Ethiopia (73,332), Nigeria (58,324) and Algeria (51,067).
Coronavirus alert: Africa situation