Malawi, one of the last African nations to report the potentially deadly disease sweeping across the continent, on Thursday recorded its first three coronavirus infections.
With the announcement, Malawi became the 50th African country to be infected.
Malawi’s President, Peter Mutharika, announced that the three cases were in Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi.
A 61-year-old woman who had recently traveled to India to visit her relatives was the country’s first case, while the results of her two of her contacts, her domestic worker and a relative, were also returned positive.
According to the President in an address to his citizens on Thursday, upon the woman’s arrival, “she placed herself in self-quarantine for 4 days but later became symptomatic within the quarantine period.”
The President promised that his government would take adequate care of the three patients while efforts to track down their immediate contacts would be intensified.
With the encroachment of coronavirus pandemic in Malawi, Comoros, Lesotho, Sam Tome and Principe and South Sudan are the four countries that are yet to record any case.
It would be recalled that following widespread irregularities, the nation is scheduled to hold a fresh presidential election on July 2 after the constitutional court annulled the vote last year.
President Mutharika, who won the initial vote, lodges an appeal against the verdict.
It would be recalled that so far, coronavirus has infected 6,729 people across Africa to date and has killed 276 people.
