The Co-Chairperson of Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 Dr John Phuka says in the past 24 hours, Malawi has registered 10 new COVID-19 cases, 260 new recoveries, and no new deaths.
According to Phuka, all new cases are locally transmitted: six from Lilongwe and four from Blantyre.
He says cumulatively, Malawi has recorded 5,576 cases including 175 deaths and of these cases, 1,126 are imported infections and 4,450 are locally transmitted.
“Cumulatively, 3,420 cases have now recovered bringing the total number of active cases to 1,981. The average age of the cases is 36.6 years, the youngest case being aged 1 month, the oldest being 98 years old and 68% are male. The country has so far conducted 45,622 COVID- 19 tests in 45 COVID-19 testing sites of which 117 tests have been done in the past 24 hours,” Dr Phuka says.
He says Malawi data suggests that there is steady reduction in the new cases and deaths, while the country continues to see improvement in the recovery rate.
“Today, we have surpassed 60% mark for those cases that have recovered from COVID-19. This gives hope that it is possible to win the fight against COVID-19 especially of we adhere to the prevention measures and seek appropriate care at the right time,”
“Chances of one recovering from COVID-19 increases when the disease is identified as early as possible. Therefore, the public should promptly inform the health authorities by calling toll free line 54747 or 929 or other possible means whenever one is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, cough, flu, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell and tiredness. Likewise, those that are primary contacts of the confirmed cases should contact the health authorities for assessment and advise,” Dr Phuka says.
