Malawi’s lakeshore district, Nkhata Bay, has registered two new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 65.
The patients are a couple; a 33 year-old man and 35 year-old woman from Chibere Msumba, Traditional Authority Mankhambira.
This means the district has recorded five cases in total.
According to Minister of Health, Jappie Mhango, who addressed the press yesterday in Mzuzu, the two came in the country on May 12 from Tanzania using a boat across Lake Malawi.
“Samples were taken on 14 May and tested at Mzuzu Central Hospital laboratory and results came out positive. Both patients are clinically stable,” he said.
Mhango said health workers are tracing all contacts so that they can also be tested for the virus.
Apparently, two additional coronavirus testing sites have been opened in Blantyre; at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital and Blantyre Dream Hospital.
As of yesterday, a total of 1762 samples had been tested, with 65 testing positive while results for 48 are pending.
Since Covid-19 was diagnosed in Malawi, the country has seen 24 patients recovering from the deadly disease while three people have lost their lives to the pandemic.
Globally, as of May 16 2020, 4 503 836 cases of Covid-19 (in accordance with the applied case definitions and testing strategies in the affected countries) had been reported, including 307 295 deaths.
The virus that causes Covid-19 is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or exhales. The droplets are too heavy to hang in the air, and quickly fall on floors or surfaces.
One can be infected by breathing in the virus if within close proximity of someone who has Covid-19, or by touching a contaminated surface and then eyes, nose or mouth.
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