Malawi has recorded 227 new Coronavirus cases and the Presidential Taskforce on Coronavirus says there might be a lot more undetected active cases within the communities.
Chairperson of the taskforce said today that 212 of the new cases are locally transmitted infections: 80 from Blantyre, 46 from Lilongwe, 22 from Zomba, 19 from Mzimba North, 14 from Salima, 11 from Thyolo, six from Kasungu (all health care workers), five from Mulanje (3 are health care workers), three from Dowa, two from Mwanza (0ne health care worker) and Nkhotakota, and one each from Mangochi and Ntchisi districts.
The other 15 cases are imported infections and there are also 34 new recoveries.
Cumulatively, Malawi has recorded 7,337 cases including 199 deaths. Of these cases, 1,577 are imported infections and 5,760 are locally transmitted.
A total 5,787 cases have now recovered, 134 were lost to follow-up, and 76 are still being investigated to ascertain their outcome.
This brings the total number of active cases to 1,141. Of the active cases, 69 cases are currently admitted: 28 in Blantyre at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, 33 in Lilongwe at Kamuzu Central Hospital and Bwaila Hospital, two in Mzuzu at Mzuzu Central Hospital, two in Balaka at Balaka District Hospital, two in Zomba at Zomba Central Hospital, one each in Thyolo at Malamulo Adventist Hospital and in Nkhotakota at Nkhotakota District Hospital.
Phuka said the speed at which the disease is spreading is alarming as Malawi has surpassed 1,000 mark within the past three weeks and the total number of those admitted is at a record high of 68.
“These figures might be under reported as there might be a lot of active cases within the communities. We have also observed an increase in the number of people infected within various institutions and this indicates the laxity of adherence to the preventive measures at personal and institutional level. Much as we have imported cases influencing the status, community transmission is also rising especially in Blantyre and Lilongwe – the disease hotspot districts. This is a big challenge at a time when many factors put us at high risk of contracting the disease,” he said.
He added that there are reports of mutated COVID-19 virus affecting many countries including some African countries such as South Africa and Zambia. He then urged people to adhere to all preventive measures of COVID-19 as taught by Ministry of Health.
