Africa-Press – Malawi. Dear pain, it must be difficult living in times of Tropical Cyclone Freddy. Indeed, it is tough living under the spell of climate change, which has removed the fun out of life.
I mean, who can celebrate when storms and cyclones such as Ana, Gombe and others have been wreaking havoc, disrupting people’s way of life? As if this were not enough, the country has had spells of hunger, leaving citizens stranded.
And, then, there have been spates of diseases, starting with polio, epilepsy, cholera and, of course, Covid. From November 2019, Covid, which is caused by coronavirus, has been stealing all the negative headlines, which is not surprising— considering its global nature.
However, Malawians were beginning to think that the worst is behind them, only for the country to register some cases in Nsanje District. It is as if we, Malawians, are back to square one.
The good thing is that Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda has moved in fast to urge the general public not to panic following the resurfacing of Covid in the country. Kandodo Chiponda said, in a statement, that the seven cases that were registered in one district [Nsanje] should not give Malawians a headache.
“[In] the recent (first two weeks of January 2024) there have been the…Covid cases that were reported from one health facility in Nsanje District (Kalemba Community Hospital).
“Three of these recently registered Covid cases were among members of the same family, the fourth was a work contact of the first case while the other two were from the surrounding community. Currently, the country has no case admitted and there has been no death reported. Therefore, there is no cause for alarm,” she pointed out.
That said, the minister asked Malawians and residents of Malawi to follow Covid preventive measures and treat the registered cases as an indication that Covid still exists in the country and even beyond the country’s borders.
“Therefore, recommended preventive measures, including frequent washing of hands and use of sanitisers, avoiding crowded places and using of facemasks, should be exercised as necessary. Covid vaccination remains a primary preventive measure and the public is called upon to seek and receive the vaccine for free at all public and Cham health facilities at their earliest opportunity. Those who received their first set of vaccines over eight months previously should visit nearest health facilities to receive their booster doses,” Kandodo Chiponda said.
The minister added that the country has enough doses of J & J vaccine for all that need them. She made the sentiments after, on Monday, the Nsanje District Health Office indicated that it had intensified efforts to contain the further spread of Covid after seven people tested positive recently. The district’s health promotions officer George Mbotwa said out of the confirmed cases, two were of health personnel.
Mbotwa said six cases were registered at Kalemba Community Hospital, with Nsanje District Hospital reporting one case. “It is, indeed, true that we, as a district, have in the past few days confirmed some cases of Covid, which are totalling seven as we speak. After observing that they were presenting signs that are similar to those of Covid, we thought of conducting several tests on these people and that is when we recorded these cases,” he said.
Mbotwa explained that people that tested positive for coronavirus were not in critical condition, such that they were treated as out-patients. “We have advised them to follow all Covid preventive measures to avoid infecting others with the disease,” he said.
Well, I would like to agree with Malawi Health Equity Network Executive Director George Jobe, who has since implored people to get inoculated for coronavirus. As he said, “We should not go back to the days when we registered unprecedented Covid cases and deaths. Our expectation is that there will be awareness campaigns on the importance of vaccination so that more people can get the vaccines.” Fine and well. But, Dear Pain, how can stakeholders convince a skeptic public? That is the pain of today
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