Malawi coronavirus cases rise to 37, new patient in Mzuzu travelled from Tanzania
Minister of Health Jappie Mhango, has confirmed a new case of coronavirus in northern city of Mzuzu, bringing the total cases in Malawi to 37, including some recoveries and three deaths.

He said new case has been confirmed by a laboratory at Mzuzu Central Hospital.
“The person is a 40-year-old gentleman who returned from Mbeya, Tanzania on 27 April 2020,” said Mhango.
“On 28 April 2020, the village head was alerted that there was someone who just arrived from Tanzania. The village head instructed him to be on self-quarantine and alerted health officials at the same time.
“A sample was collected and came out positive for Covid-19. The person is however very well and has no any symptoms,” the minister told reporters.
He said health workers are tracing all the contacts of the person so that they can be isolated, followed up and tested for Covid-19.
Mhango said the local transmission is rising since the first case was detected on April 2 2020.
“This means the country, has now registered a total of 37 confirmed Covid-19 cases since the first case was reported on 2 April 2020. Of these cases, 7 have successfully recovered and are well, 3 lost their lives and 27 are still under management by the health system,” said the minister.
Meanwhile, Mhango has said government is committed to ensure that district health facilities are able to conduct coronavirus testing.
His comments comes after ministers and legislators from various parliamentary committees on Tuesday embarked on a two-day fact-finding mission on the state of preparedness to fight the pandemic at district level.
The tour exposed gaps in the preparedness, including shortage of staff and personal protective equipment for healthcare workers.
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Bright Msaka, who toured health facilities in Zomba, said he was impressed to see fully equipped isolation centres and a testing laboratory at Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi.
“At Capital Hill, we are only advised by health experts on what is being done on the ground. However, we said we could appreciate more when we visit the districts too,” he said.
Minister of Health has since urged people to continue observing preventive measures such as personal hygiene and social distancing.
Mhango also warned people to be careful as everyone is a suspect until they are tested.
So far, Lilongwe has registered 23 cases with two deaths while Blantyre has recorded nine cases with one death. Chikwawa, Zomba, Nkhotakota, Karonga and now Mzuzu have registered one case each, respectively.
On March 12 2020, World Health Organisation declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic.
President Peter Mutharika on March 20 2020 declared a State of Disaster.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :