* The Mapanga Prison Training College property destroyed during rioting on Sunday
* Police used teargas to control the unruly returnees after blocking Blantyre-Zomba Road
* The public suggests publishing their names to alert their kinsfolk to send them back
* As of Saturday, out of the 327 new cases recorded, 54 were imported infections through returnees
By Duncan Mlanjira
A lot of property is reported to have been destroyed at the recently designated COVID-19 quarantine centre at Mapanga Prison Training College along Zomba Road following a scuffle that followed when the returnees were demanding to be promptly tested and released if found negative.
Firefighters controlling the damage
caused
The rioters also decided to block the Blantyre-Zomba Road Police besides damaging the prison college, forcing support police response to fire teargas to control the unruly returnees.
The facility was designated by the government to accommodate those returning from outside the country, especially from South Africa, in the wake of the COVID-19 second wave that has hit the country harder than the first wave from April to December.
Zodiak Broadcasting Station reported in the afternoon that unconfirmed reports indicate that over 20 of the more than 500 returnees that arrived on Saturday at Mwanza border, escaped the quarantine center during the fracas.
This piece of news was received with trepidation by members of the public as there are fears that the escaped returnees are now on their way to possibly infect innocent kinsfolk back in their villages if some of them are positive of the virus.
The public fears that with the new variant which they may have been infected in their host country, they are risking everyone from where they have escaped throughout their transit to the home villages or towns.
Others suggested that since the escapees left behind their passports, the authorities should publish their names to alert their kinsfolk and impress on them the dangers of welcoming them by sending them back to the quarantine centre for testing.
Others suggested that once the escapees are found to be the ringleaders, they should be held accountable to pay for the damages caused to the facility.
Laurence Manyozo alleged that most of Malawians based in South Africa, sneered at with the nickname of ‘matchona’, feel more like they have another country to call home.
“They feel more valuable having been allowed entry into the country. The government should close borders for all, whether [for returning] citizen or not,” he said.
Mervy Chima suggested that the quarantine process should be completed right at point of entry instead of shipping them across many communities into the cities.
Misheck Chabwera was of the opinion that most Malawian don’t seem to regard some issues with the seriousness they deserve, case in point that the quarantine process the government is doing is for the returnees own good as well as their kinsfolk back home and the rest of the country.
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Kisha Riccah agreed with Chabwera, wondering why they don’t seem to understand that they are potential carriers of the virus and it was prudent to test them first and rule them out.
“They can’t even reason that they are putting the lives of their loved ones at risk,” he said,mwhile asking the government to also provide adequate services as the returnees might have been dissatisfied with the living conditions at the site.
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Others hinted that the government should have learnt from last year’s lesson when returnees from South Africa also escaped from the quarantine centre that was set up at Kamuzu Stadium.
They escaped because the government failed to provide them with basic necessities as well as proper facilities for their well-being at the stadium.
Another commentator observed that the same people might come back seeking for treatment from the same isolation centers should the disease, which might be dormant in their bodies, manifests itself at a later stage.
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Shao Branson Njunga suggested that the returnees should first be signing an agreement of what will be expected of them once they reach the country.
“Those who do not sign should not be allowed to buy bus tickets [back there in South Africa]. Also the government should reduce number of buses per operation. Kwakula nkusazindikila anthu amenewo (the bottom line is ignorance amongst these returnees),” he said.
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