RUSTENBURG - At least seven people travelling from India have tested positive for Covid-19 on their arrival in Malawi in the space of two days this week.
According to the daily Covid-19 situation update report from the Ministry of Health, three cases were registered on Monday and four were registered on Sunday in people who recently arrived from India.
Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said they were all under institutional isolation in the Lilongwe District.
Last month, Malawi imposed a travel ban to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Brazil in a bid to curb the threat of the importation and spread of the new Covid-19 variant first detected in India.
Malawi has recorded 34,180 cases, 1,153 deaths and 32,164 recoveries, while 319,323 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
On Monday, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Covid-19 cases and deaths were still rising rapidly in the South-east Asia region and there were countries in every region showing increases.
"Today, the WHO Foundation is launching the 'Together for India' appeal to raise funds to support WHO’s work in India, including for the purchase of oxygen, personal protective equipment and medicines…
"Globally, we are still in a perilous situation. The spread of variants, increased social mixing, the relaxation of public health and social measures and inequitable vaccination are all driving transmission," he said.
India has recorded more than 22 million Covid-19 cases, with over 250,000 deaths and more than 19 million recoveries. The country has so far administered 168,304,868 vaccine doses.
ANA