As of 1 April 2020, four African sovereign states were yet to report a case of COVID-19: Comoros, Lesotho, South Sudan, and São Tomé and Príncipe (as well as the disputed state of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic). On the other hand, Malawi also had no cases until 2nd April 2020.
According to a statement by President Peter Mutharika, the confirmed cases in Lilongwe, have been traced to an unnamed woman who had visited India where she was in contact with individuals that were coronavirus positive. Upon arrival back to Malawi, she was in self quarantine for 14 days but amidst she infected her domestic worker and relative, registering Malawi’s first cases of the pandemic. “We are currently providing initial care for the 3 cases,” said the leader, “We are also tracing all close contacts and inquire them to go into quarantine for 14 days where they can be observed”
Last month, The Ministry of Health and Population released a list of countries, from which travelers coming from them will be urged to self quarantine for 14 days. The notice from the Ministry, in partnership with the Public Health Institute of Malawi (PHIM), says all travelers coming into Malawi from the below listed countries will be required to undergo a 14 days self-quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
China, Finland, Italy, Greece, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Korea, Germany, France, Spain, USA, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, UK, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Austria and Japan.
During the statement on Thursday evening, Mutharika urged the nation not to panic as the fight can be won, while also outlined that preventative measures will be announced. “Not long from today, in view of the coronavirus cases, I’ll be addressing the nation again to announce small measures to stop the spread of the virus” stated the president.