RUSTENBURG - Malawi and Eswatini on Monday recorded new cases of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).
Malawi Health Minister Jappie Mhango said two new cases were reported – bringing the total number of cases to 36 with three deaths and four recoveries.
Mhango said the new cases were a 47-year-old man from Chileka Blantyre, who returned from Tanzania on April 18 and the other one was a 29-year-old man from Livimbo in area 2 Lilongwe, who had no history of recent travel.
Health officials were doing contact tracing to test all persons who were in contact with the two men.
The High Court in Lilongwe was expected to deliver a judgment on Wednesday in a case involving the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) which obtained an order stopping government from implementing a three-week long lockdown in attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19.
In Eswatini, Health Minister Lizzie Nkosi annouced six new cases bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 65 with one death and 10 recoveries.
She said they were worried that transmissions occurred at social gatherings.
"Our investigations show that most of these new infections are happening at social gatherings like parties. We wish to urge the nation once again to practise social distancing. Let us stay away from all kinds of social gatherings and instead, stay at home."
She said most of the latest 16 cases involved infections that have happened at family and workplace level.
"That is why we urge people to practise social distancing. If you feel symptoms immediately contact 977 and isolate yourself from others. It is a responsibility for each one of us not to host, organise or attend any social gathering be it a lobola ceremony or a party. Covid-19 is very serious. As a ministry, we will also be paying even closer attention to the Manzini region."
The coronavirus officially known as Covid-19 was first recorded in Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province in December of 2019 and it spill over to other parts of the world.
So far there were over three million confirmed cases worldwide, nearly 210,000 deaths and just over 900,000 recoveries.