Covid-19 cases start to rise

 Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 co-chairperson Dr John Phuka has urged caution following a steady increase in registered new Covid-19 cases in the past week.

In a telephone interview yesterday, he said there are three risk factors that may be attributed to the increase.

Said Phuka: “In neigbouring countries, numbers continue to increase and we engage with these neigbouring countries often. Again, many people and institutions have relaxed on preventive measures and the change in temperature also triggers multiplication of organisms.”

He added that the other factor that may contribute to an increase in new cases is that more people are travelling during the festive season.

Ministry of Health statistics indicate that the number of new Covid-19 cases have been on the rise from Sunday when three new cases were registered, while four were registered on Monday, 10 on Tuesday, and 11 yesterday.

A statement by Phuka on the daily Covid-19 update showed that as of yesterday, the country has recorded 6 091 cases including 187 deaths.

In an interview with The Nation in November, infectious disease expert Dr Titus Divala said the second wave should be a matter of concern since what affects the global village affects people elsewhere.

“The spike [in Europe] is not surprising. We knew that a second wave was coming their way and one is possibly on its way to Malawi, so we need not relax. It appears that second waves are commencing about three months from the first, so if conditions are there, we may have ours from December,” he said.

According to international media reports, globally the Covid-19 death toll has passed 1.63 million with the number of confirmed cases at more than 73.6 million