By Enalla Mnyenyembe, MANA
Mzuzu City Council and the Directorate of Health and Social Services (DHSS) for Mzimba North have advised people against relaxing the COVID-19 prevention protocols, saying the fight against the pandemic is not yet won.
Mzimba DHSS public relations officer, Lovemore Kawayi, said as it stands there are still active cases and new Coronavirus infections are being registered — hence the need to continue adhering to the preventive measures.
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“We still have new cases that have been recorded,” he said. “There are also active cases with the potential of transmitting the virus to other people.
“Therefore, people should not relax in abiding by the set COVID- 19 preventive measures if we have to win the fight against the pandemic.”
In his Monday’s situation report, co-chairperson of the presidential task force on COVID-19, Dr. John Phuka said Malawi registered three new cases, 12 new recoveries and no new deaths from 161 tests that were conducted.
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The new cases are locally transmitted infections — two are from Blantyre Health District and one from Lilongwe Health District.
Cumulatively, Malawi has recorded 5,824 cases including 180 deaths and of these cases, 1,159 are imported infections and 4,665 are locally transmitted.
Cumulatively, 4,659 cases have now recovered bringing the total number of active cases to 985.
In his daily updates — Dr. Phuka keeps reminding the public not to drop their guard but to continue to observe the preventive measures that are still in force and thus Kawayi adds voice by saying people should continue wearing face masks, practising social distancing at all times and washing hands with soap.
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On his part, Mzuzu City Council public relations officer, MacDonald Gondwe said people should not be cheated by the reduction of COVID-19 cases in the country.
He said the reduction in the cases should act as a motivating factor for people to continue observing the prevention measures.
“We will continue using different avenues and platforms such as community radios and mobile vans to enhance public awareness of the pandemic,” said Gondwe.
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He added that the Council, among other initiatives, has intensified inspection of various facilitates including schools, markets and other public institutions.
On Monday, Malawi Police Service issued a statement strongly reminding people from disregarding COVID-19 rules and regulation enforcement, saying public gatherings of more than 100 individuals is still prohibited and that seating capacity in public transport should still not exceed 60% of the seats.
The statement by public relations officer, Senior Superintendent James Kadadzera said it had been noted that some quarters of the society are approaching the COVID-19 Prevention, Containment and Management rules and regulations with laxity though they are still enforceable.
Situation in Africa
Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases keep resurfacing in Africa as of Tuesday, October 13, confirmed cases from 55 countries reached 1,584,693 with reported deaths at 38,302 and recoveries at 1,311,339.
South Africa has the most reported cases — 693,359, with deaths numbering 17,863.
Other most-affected countries include Morocco (153,761), Egypt (104,648), Ethiopia (85,136), Nigeria (60,430) and Algeria (53,325).
The numbers are compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University using statistics from the World Health Organization and other international institutions as well national and regional public health departments.—Additional reporting by Duncan Mlanjira
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