As health experts continue to advise people to maintain distance with others amid the coronavirus pandemic, Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima has told Malawians to hug each other saying they will not get infected.
Chilima who is also runningmate for the Tonse Alliance made the remarks at a campaign rally in Lilongwe on Sunday.
He said members of political parties under the alliance – which include Malawi Congress Party (MCP), People’s Party and Chilima’s UTM – should hug each other whenever they meet saying they are all brothers and sisters.
“When you meet a person in MCP colours hug them, when you find a person wearing a PP T-shirt hug them you are members of one family. You cannot catch any disease hug each other,” said Chilima.
Chilima’s advice is against guidelines by the World Health Organisation (WHO) which is encouraging people to observe a distance of at least one meter with others and to avoid crowded places in order to prevent Coronavirus.
Ironically, Chilima announced in April that he will donate his salary for three months to the fight against the Coronavirus.
In Malawi, 70 cases of the coronavirus have been recorded and there have been three deaths and 27 recoveries.
Amid the pandemic, politicians from the opposition Tonse Alliance and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party are holding mass rallies as they campaign ahead of the 2020 fresh presidential elections.
During the rallies, the political parties have been defying guidelines on prevention of the coronavirus.
