Malawi president Lazarus Chakwera has been forced to trim his entourage to the UK because Malawi is on a red list. The UK requires that any person travelling from a red list country quarantines in a managed hotel at the airport where they arrive in England. Chakwera’s delegates are therefore required to book a managed hotel package before they can travel.
The UK high commission is yet to respond to us on the arrangement that they have made with Malawi over the delegate.
The Malawi president leaves on 25th of July for London where he will attend a summit on education. State House said yesterday the president has been invited to the United Kingdom by Prime Minister Boris Johnson who said Chakwera should go in person because there are some activities that cannot be done virtually.
Presidential Press Secretary Brian Banda insisted that Chakwera will travel with a lean delegation but he did not mention the actual number. He added that strict Covid-19 measures will be followed.
However, in following mandatory quarantine rules, members of Chakwera’s delegation will be required to book a managed hotel before they leave Malawi and will need to quarantine at the hotel for 10 days at a cost of £1,750 (about K2.1 million) per person.
Meanwhile, Malawi continues to register a surge in Covid-19 cases. The country’s infection rate as of yesterday peaked at more than 26 percent.
Yesterday, 347 new cases and 14 deaths were registered. The country has recorded a total of 43,817 cases including 1,352 deaths and 35,087 recoveries.
