Malawi has registered 562 new coronavirus (Covid-19) in the last 24-hour reporting period and hospital deaths has risen by 9 amid a surge of infections, 18 new recoveries and the highest number of admissions at 167 in 18 hospitals across the country – with Blantyre still as the highest at 71.
However, co-chairperson of the Presidential task force on Covid-19, Dr. John Phuka says ” all is not lost” in the battle against the pandemic.
“We should not despair or lose hope as we can stop the spread of the disease if all of us act decisively and choose to adhere to the preventive measures,” Phuka said.
“I have observed that there is fear, worry, stress and anxiety among the public with how the disease is spreading. Let me point it out that these are expected responses to perceived or real threats, and at times when we are faced with uncertainty or the unknown.
“As such, it is expected that people are experiencing fear in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Added to the fear of contracting the virus in a pandemic such as Covid-19 are the significant changes to our daily lives in support of efforts to contain and slow down the spread of the virus.”
Phuka, therefore, said it is important that the public should look after their mental health, as well as their physical health wellbeing and encourages them to calm down and concentrate on how collectively they can stop the disease from spreading further.
“If we work together in unity and solidarity, we should be able to defeat this pandemic,” he added.
“It is important at this point that we should be able to identify through testing those that have the disease, isolate them while receiving appropriate care depending on the severity of the disease.
“The contacts of the confirmed cases should also be tested for Covid-19. If you feel stressed during this period, please seek psychosocial support by calling your nearest facility or by calling 54747 (Airtel) or 929 (TNM) or 0882 431 111.
“Coping with stress in a healthy way will make all of us stronger in all ways and it will be easier to defeat the pandemic.”
He also observed that there is general late health seeking behaviour among people whereby patients are arriving late at treatment units while in severe state that is resulting in poor disease outcomes.
Malawi has so far confirmed about 10 000 coronavirus cases and 275 deaths – including two cabinet ministers.