Riverside Hotel and Michiru Lodge in Lilongwe are operating illegal quarantine centres where they are charging people K100,000 per day.
The two businesses are getting clients using claims that they have been approved by the Ministry of Health to operate quarantine centres.
According to local media reports, the illegal operations are getting assistance from officials at the airport who tell passengers arriving into the country that they would be required to quarantine for 14 days at either Riverside Hotel or Michiru Lodge.
“[People] are told that those places are authorised by the Ministry of Health for such services for easy monitoring,” a source told the Atlas news site.
The two businesses are charging K100,000 per day for foreigners while Malawians pay K35,000 per day for 14 days.
However, Riverside Hotel and Michiru Lodge have not stopped normal services for events and for customers who are not required to be under quarantine. Both sets of customers are also being assisted by the same workers.
Riverside Hotel Manager Mohammad Firoz Akhter and Michiru Lodge Manager Harnish Patel confirmed that their respective businesses are providing accommodation to people under quarantine.
Akhter said the Hotel has allocated some rooms which are strictly being used by customers on quarantine.
“Our workers work in shifts and they use personal protection equipment,” he told The Atlas.
But Ministry of Health spokesperson Adrian Chikumbe said the Ministry has not given approval to certain hotels to operate quarantine centres.
Malawi is currently experiencing a third wave of the Coronavirus and has recorded 785 cases today. Cumulatively, Malawi has recorded 41,498 cases including 1,301 deaths.
