The Malawi Government has admitted that the country lacks capacity to test COVID-19.
Minister of Health Jappie Mhango, who is also chairperson of the Cabinet committee on Coronavirus, said this on Tuesday.
He, however, said government will make sure that a laboratory is available by the end of this month.
“With support from the World Health Organization, Government will, before the end of March, 2020 develop laboratory capacity to ensure that COVID-19 is tested in Malawi,” said Mhango.
He further said that the Ministry of Health is ensuring that hospitals have the capacity to manage patients suspected of coronavirus through training of health workers and provision of drugs and supplies.
The coronavirus outbreak which began in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China has spread to 101 countries across the world.
Over 105,000 cases of the disease have been confirmed cases and over 3,500 deaths have been reported globally.
In South Africa, 13 cases have been recorded with six confirmed today. All of the six persons had been to European countries recently.
Symptoms of the disease include fever, fatigue, dry cough and headache.
