Malawi has registered 62 new COVID-19 cases, 51 of which are imported infections.
The presidential taskforce on Coronavirus says 11 of the cases are locally transmitted while six are from Lilongwe and five from Blantyre.
The imported cases were identified at Mwanza border through routine screening from residents returning from South Africa, and one is a new refugee at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa.
Cumulatively, Malawi has recorded 6,339 cases including 187 deaths. Of these cases, 1,358 are imported infections and 4,981 are locally transmitted.
In total, 5,676 cases have now recovered, 108 were lost to follow-up, and 76 are still being investigated to ascertain their outcome. This brings the total number of active cases to 292.
Of the active cases, eight cases are currently admitted: six at Kamuzu Central Hospital and two at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. A total of 83,849 tests, have been conducted in the country so far.
In the past three weeks, Malawi has seen an increase in the number of COVID-19 imported cases being identified at Mwanza Border.
Chairperson of the presidential taskforce John Phuka said most of these new cases are coming from Republic of South Africa. He added that this poses high risk of spread even to those that tested negative at the border.
Phuka then asked those that have recently returned in the country through Mwanza border to strictly be on quarantine for 14 days and contact the local health authorities for further screening especially if they do not know their status.
He said: “We have observed that some of the returnees are giving incorrect contact information making contact tracing, follow ups and care difficult. Those that recently returned and do not have their results should contact their local health authorities for their testing results. Those that we fail to reach, we will announce their names through the mass media to facilitate tracing them.”
