Rustenburg - Malawi recorded its first Covid-19 death and added three new cases to its tally on Tuesday, bringing its overall number of infections to eight.
According to health minister Jappie Mhango, who also heads the country's Covid-19 cabinet committee, the deceased was a 51-year-old woman who died in Blantyre on Tuesday morning.
News website, Malawi24 reported that the woman was of Indian origin and had recently returned to Malawi from the United Kingdom.
"She had an underlying medical condition. Our Blantyre District Health Office and Environmental Health Team is assisting with the burial arrangements. As a nation we grieve with the family of the deceased and I urge you all to respect their privacy," the publication quoted Mhango saying.
Two of the three new cases were recorded in Blantyre, while the other case was from Chikwawa, Malawi24 reported.
One of the patients is a 34-year-old woman who came into contact with the first case victim, who was registered on Monday.
The second patient is a 28-year-old woman who travelled from the United Kingdom to Malawi on March 19.
The third patient is a 30-year-old man who travelled from South Africa to Malawi on March 16.
The coronavirus first surfaced in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
It has since spilled over to other parts of the world, with 1.3 million infections confirmed globally. Over 76 000 deaths have been recorded, and close on 300 000 people have recovered from the virus, according to statistics referencing website Worldometers.
African News Agency (ANA)
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