Life is slowly turning to normal following government’s move to relax some of the Covid-19 measures, including extension of business hours to midnight and allowing minibuses to carry passengers to full capacity.
Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo-Chiponda announced the easing of the restrictions on Friday at a press briefing in Lilongwe, saying the country has now moved to level one of the pandemic.
As of October 7 2021 the country had recorded 61 648 cases and 2 287 deaths, representing a case fatality ratio of 3.71 percent.
Other measures that have been relaxed are allowing workers who were working on shifts to reduce congestion to now return to their workplaces, indoor gathering such as church will now operate at 50 percent while outdoor events will now accommodate 2 000 people.
Said Chiponda: “Now that the cases are declining, we need to continue to adhere to preventive and containment measures in order to reduce further and stop the spread of the virus amidst us to avoid further disruptions to our social and economic lives due to the pandemic.”
There is also no restriction for people coming into the country as long as the traveller produces a negative Covid-19 test certificate.
The minister also said over one million people have received Covid-19 vaccine doses and that majority of people with severe illness and dying from the pandemic are those who had not received the vaccine.
Chiponda also disclosed that government managed to administer all 27 000 doses of the vaccine that were nearing expiry.
Currently 56 208 cases have now recovered (recovery rate of 91.2 percent) and there are 2 921 active cases, 15 of which are hospitalised.
