Health Officials in Chitipa District have started testing students in boarding schools in an effort to monitor the spread of COVID-19 among learners with a total of 51 cases registered in five institutions visited so far.

Spokesperson for Chitipa District Health Office Masida Nyirongo said health personnel have visited Chitipa, Ilinga, Kaseye Girls, St Ignatius and Wenya Secondary Schools.

Nyirongo added that the overall fight to reduce the spread of COVID-19 is going on well despite pockets of the citizenry not adhering to some of the prescribed preventive measures in the border district.

“We have intensified sensitization campaigns mainly targeting citizens who reside closer to the border with Tanzania who are not following prescribed preventive guidelines,” Nyirongo Said.

Chitipa District cumulatively has registered 163 COVID-19 confirmed cases with 64 recoveries and 8 deaths.