Malawi has recorded 41 new coronavirus cases and two new deaths, now the number of recorded cases is 1265 while the number of deaths has reached 16.

Chairperson of the Presidential Taskforce on Coronavirus John Phuka announced the new cases on Tuesday.

The two victims are a 42-year-old man who died at Bwaila Hospital in Lilongwe and a 34-year-old man who died at Mchinji Hospital.

Out of the new coronavirus cases recorded, 30 are contacts of confirmed cases. Twenty of the locally transmitted cases are from Mzuzu (including on health worker), four from Lilongwe, two from Mchinji, two from Phalombe and one each from Nsanje and Blantyre.

According to Phuka, the two imported cases recently returned from South Africa and are from Mangochi and Salima. The other nine cases are still under investigation.

Out of the 1265 Coronavirus cases recorded in Malawi, 639 are imported while 581 are locally transmitted. There have been 260 recoveries.

Malawi has conducted 14, 173 coronavirus tests in 37 testing sites.

Meanwhile, Phuka has urged all Malawians to wear masks when in crowded places and and has encouraged those found positive to self-isolate.