Malawi Covid-19 admissions drop: Society of Medical Doctors says ‘changes in weather pattern’

Malawi has registered a record drop in Covid-19 admissions across the country, and the Society of Medical Doctors in Malawi (SMDM) has explained that the drop in the cases could be as a result of changes in weather patterns.

“We are coming from winter and winter happens to be the hub of respiratory infections, of which Covid is one of them,” Dr Victor Mithi, SMDM president, said.

But Mithi warned that the country might experience more Covid-19 waves in spite of the cases declining.

“The other contributing factor could be people’s adherence to Covid preventative measures, including hand-sanitizing, social-distancing and face-masking.

“But people should not relax but, rather, scale up efforts including the uptake of Covid vaccines [Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson] that are being administered in the country,” Mithi told local press, adding that SMDM was not satisfied with Covid-19 vaccine uptake levels.

“We are not satisfied because, by now, we would be talking about vaccine doses running out because we have been having few doses,” Mithi said.

Nyasa Times has learnt that the number of people admitted to healthcare service facilities due to coronavirus infection has declined in the past 30 days.

On August 1 this year, the coronavirus positivity rate was at 23 percent, with 399 patients getting admitted to Covid isolation centres across the country.

However, the figures have been steadily declining and, by Saturday last week, there were 185 patients admitted to hospital, culminating in 214 less patients.

The positivity rate was at 8.3 percent on Saturday, with the recovery rate captured at 78 percent.

The Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19 has indicated that data show that most cases being reported in Malawi are locally transmitted.

“Let me remind everyone that the chances of those confirmed positive transmitting the disease to those in close contact with them is very high,” Health Minister and Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19 co-Chairperson Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda indicated in a Covid-update statement.

She added that a good number of coronavirus carriers were asymptomatic, necessitating the need to ensure adherence to Covid preventative and containment measures.

Cumulatively, Malawi has recorded over 60,313 cases of Covid since the first case was recorded in the country on April 2 2020. By August 28, only 404,930 people had been fully vaccinated.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :

Sharing is caring!