Attachments
Highlights
• Malawi is registering a reduced number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Since the last report, Malawi registered 71 new cases showing a reduction of about 10 per cent compared to the previous week. This could be attributed suboptimal testing due to lack of test kits which has resulted decreased surveillance activities. The surveillance committee of the Health cluster is undertaking an analysis to get a full understanding of the factors behind the declining trend in new cases.
• As part of the support towards safe school reopening, UNICEF has provided 890 buckets with taps, 8,645 buckets without taps and 2,000 bars of soap to the Ministry of Health. These have been delivered to over 500 primary schools that do not have water points within the school premises. These supplies are enough to serve over 350,000 learners.
• Around 670 children living or working on the streets in Blantyre, Machinga, Dedza, and Zomba districts have been provided with psychosocial and necessary material support since the beginning of the response. Of the 670, about 150 children have been reached during the reporting period.
• As contribution to addressing the current shortage of test kits in the country, UNICEF with funding from the World Bank has procured 1,000 test kits each with capacity to conduct 10 tests. The kits are expected to arrive in the country in October 2020.
Situation Overview
Malawi is registering a reduced number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Since the last report, Malawi registered 71 new cases showing a reduction of about 10 per cent compared to the previous week. This could be attributed suboptimal testing due to lack of test kits which has resulted decreased surveillance activities. The surveillance committee of the Health cluster is undertaking an analysis to get a full understanding of the factors behind the declining trend in new cases.
Cumulatively, 5,701 confirmed cases have been recorded in all the 28 districts. The number of recoveries is at 3,762 and 178 deaths have been reported. Two cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe are contributing to the highest number of fatalities at 42 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. Further analysis shows that 1,142 of the cases are imported infections and 4,559 are locally transmitted.
The country continues receiving returning residents and deportees from other countries, mainly South Africa. In the past week over 800 returnees arrived through Mwanza border in southern region. The returnees were screened through a comprehensive triage upon entry and those with symptoms were tested for COVID-19 while those without symptoms proceeded to their destinations for self- quarantine and follow up by respective district health authorities.
The Kamuzu International Airport has been opened to the general public since September 1. All passengers are required to present a negative COVID-19 test result on departure and those arriving in Malawi are required to present a COVID-19 certificate for a negative result in the last 72 hours. Since the opening of the airport, no major incidence has been reported.
Active tracing and monitoring of contacts of confirmed COVID-19 are ongoing. However, there is a reduction in surveillance activities as a result of limited testing because of shortage of test kits.