News & Analysis: Malawi
“WHO regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said that hospital admissions for severely ill COVID-19 patients had reached unprecedented levels in about 10 countries; at least six countries were facing shortages in intensive care unit beds and medical oxygen.”
“Malawi has destroyed almost 20,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, while South Sudan has 59,000 doses which it also plans to discard. The vaccines had been donated through the African Union but had not been administered by their expiry date of 13 April.”
“African health officials have reacted with fury at the breezy reassurances of American and European lawmakers that people denied the AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson shots could be given another vaccine. In much of the world, there are no other vaccines.”
“The global media landscape has changed over the past 10 years with journalism facing a range of problems such as the disruption in traditional media as a result of the fast changing digital space, to fake news and the rising distrust in journalism. When COVID-19 hit, it exacerbated these and other existing problems within the journalism industry.”
“Access to education has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments across southern Africa closed down educational institutions for the greater part of 2020. At the beginning of 2021, we are beginning to see some of the costs.”
“Two ruling Tonse Alliance legislators have today died of COVID-19. Parliament says Ntchisi North parliamentarian Jacqueline Chikuta and John Chikalimba who represented Zomba Changalume constituency in parliament have succumbed to the virus disease.”
As a second wave inundates Malawi, public health officials and policymakers are asking, What lessons from Malawi’s mild 2020 experience should be applied in 2021?
“The Society of Medical Doctors has called for volunteer health workers to support the frontline health care staff during this unprecedented coronavirus pandemic. The doctors made the call in a statement barely a day after President Lazarus Chakwera admitted that the country’s health system had been ‘overwhelmed’ by the surge.”
“The Society of Medical Doctors president Victor Mithi said they need volunteers, particularly clinicians, nurses, and laboratory personnel that are either not employed or have free time, to work at equivalent grade allowances in COVID-19 centers in central hospital isolation wards and new field hospitals to be set up by the government.”
“The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation has condemned the Malawi Police for beating up people in markets, depots and on the streets under the guise of enforcing COVID-19 measures.”
A hub for information, analysis, and the global response to COVID-19’s impact on Africa