Sports fertile ground for Covid-19 transmission, says Task Force

The Presidential Task Force on Covid-19  says sports is one of the fertile grounds for the spread of the coronavirus.

The task force’s co-chairperson Dr John Phuka said this on Sunday in Lilongwe during a daily update on the status of the pandemic in the country.

He cited markets, sports events and religious gatherings as the most risky social gatherings where the virus that has claimed 508 lives, is transmitted.

The revelation casts further doubt on the return of football anytime soon after Super League of Malawi (Sulom) suspended the TNM Super League for three weeks following the newly gazetted laws restricting public gatherings to 50 people.

Commenting on the development,  Football Association fo Malawi (FAM) Covid-19 Task Force chairperson Chimango Munthali said they will work with the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 to  ensure football venues are safe.

He said: “They [Presidential Task Force on Covid-19] are specialists and we respect their findings. As we have always done, we look forward to their guidance on how we can make football venues safe places.

“As we speak, the FAM Task Force on Covid-19 is working on improving the protocols of football restart to ensure that the guidelines are more strong.”

On whether the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 revelations means that the roadmap to football return has failed, Chimango said they have achived their objective. 

“To me I would consider it as a success. From where we started we have demonstrated that football can be played amid Covid-19.

“But this is a new strain and it has not spared any sector.  All we need to do is to improve. We will rely on guidance from  the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19,” he said.

As of Sunday, Malawi had registered 956 new cases, 179 new recoveries and 38 new deaths.

Of the new cases, 950 are locally transmitted infections.