Malawi Ministry of Health has announced that the country has registered three cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda has made the announcement at a press briefing the morning.
She said all three cases have been recorded in Lilongwe but the patients are asymptomatic and are on self-isolation.
“I would like to inform the nation that as a Country we have the capacity to do genomic sequencing and we routinely conduct genomic sequencing on Covid-19 positive case samples to track the type of variants circulating in the Country. Let me inform the nation that through the samples that we have collected from 9th November to 2nd December for genomic sequencing, we have isolated three cases of Omicron Variant from the 12 samples analysed. This is to inform that we have Omicron in the Country.
“The Omicron is characterised by an increased risk of re-infection as compared to the other variants of concerns hence the need for all us to intensify our efforts in adhering to the preventive and containment measures. We will continue with the surveillance on the same and the country will be informed accordingly on further developments,” explained Chiponda.
The minister noted that there has been an increase in new infections in Malawi since November 29, with daily cases now hitting double digits. The positivity has also risen to 3.3 percent from less than one percent.
The Minister expressed concern over continued relaxation in observing prevention measures, saying there have increased public gatherings such as political rallies and weddings despite the recent rise in cases.
She then urged Malawians to get vaccinated and continue wearing of masks, maintaining social distance and avoiding large gatherings as we get close to Christmas and new year celebrations.
Yesterday, Malawi recorded 38 new Covids-19 cases, including one imported case. Currently, five Covid-19 patients are admitted in treatment centres and they are all unvaccinated, according to Chiponda.
In Malawi, 622,676 people are fully vaccinated. The Ministry of Health said yesterday that vaccination is still continuing across the country and it has adequate stocks of the vaccines in all vaccination sites.
