Kapito demands closure of  Malawi markets to comply with Covid-19 measures

The country’s consumer rights activist, John Kapito has called on government to close high risks and overcrowded places such as markets as well as the country’s borders as one way of containing global pandemic, Coronavirus.

On Thursday, Malawi recorded its first three confirmed cases of the coronavirus. On Saturday, the number rose to four.

There are fears are that the virus might spread wide if no drastic measures are not taken to minimize social interaction among the citizenry.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Consumers Association of Malawi’s (Cama) executive director has demanded government to come up with a strong comprehensive program and set of activities that can be used to manage and contain this pandemic.

Kapito said government also needs to recruit more health workers and purchase more testing laboratories and equipment to support the depleted health infrastructure.

“Government needs to set up a comprehensive awareness and education campaign, encouraging people to stay home and a very comprehensive program on motoring and inspecting quarantined or self-isolated individuals,” said Kapito.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is here and we need as Malawians to wake up from our slumber and as earlier said we need strong political readership during this difficult and dangerous time.”

Kapito argued that Malawi needs drastic and comprehensive policies and actions to ensure that the disease is being contained, saying COVID -19 is real and must be combated with the seriousness it deserves in order to protect vulnerable Malawians from this pandemic.

“We have noted with concern that the Malawi Government is handling COVID-19 issue with kid gloves and there is no serious and comprehensive strong policy that is aimed at combating the COVID-19. Our health infrastructure is still weak and not capable to contain and manage COVID-19.

“Our borders are still open with poor technical capacity to test those that are coming in the country, the country does not have specific quarantine places for those people that can be found suffering from COVID-19, there is lack of awareness amongst Malawians on the dangers of this COVID-19 with no political leadership in most of the sectors on how the disease can be managed and contained.”

Kapito noted that Malawi does not have enough resources in terms of infrastructure and human capacity but believes that there are certain things that the country can do to protect vulnerable and innocent people from Covid-19.

Coronavirus is an infectious disease caused by a new virus. The disease causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as a cough, fever, and in more severe cases, difficulty breathing.

People can protect themselves by washing hands frequently, avoiding touching their faces, and avoiding close contact (1 meter or 3 feet) with people who are unwell.

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