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Malawians that have been to Covid-19-hit countries have it soft and smooth in Blantyre, Malawi.
Malawi is one of the countries hit by Covid-19, also known as Coronavirus, with eight reported cases as of Tuesday and one case of death.
Due to the situation, planes of the big airlibes such as Kenyan, South African and Ethiopian are no longer flying into Malawi. However, those who flied into Malawi earlier, which is before the April 1 deadline, as well as those travellibg by bus from South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, among other countries, are being quarantined.
NO LONGER FLYING INTO MALAWI: Planes
The country's president, Peter Mutharika, has weighed in on the situation, banning church gatherings, ordering that employees work in shifts, reducing the price of fuel, among other things, with those coming from Covid-19-hit countries required to go into 14-day quarantine.
The quarantine centre in Blantyre is situated in Kameza llcation, close to Kamuzu College of Nursing premises.
However, instead of remaining in-doors until the 14-day period is over, those under quarantine roam freely day and night, mingling with traders and Kameza residents as they buy food stuffs, water bottles and even drink water in the vicinity.
To make matters worse, they are doing so without any face-masks on, further endangering other people and throwing spanners in the work of the Cabinet Committee on Covid-19, which, through its chairperson Jappie Mhango, has vowed to put all hands to the wheel in a bid to stem Covid-19 patient and death cases in Malawi.
One of the people who are under quarantine at Kameza, who declined to be named for fear of attracting the ire of health officials, claimed that they have been left at the hands of natural devices and are being forced into a corner.
"We have people from South Africa, the United Kingdom, Kenya, among others, who do not have food and enough water to drink. We cannot afford expense food and we are, therefore, being forced to go out and look for these things.
"Actually, there is no security where we are staying and all this thing (aboit quarantine) depends on our good-will. I hope you have heard that some people in in self-quarantine (at home). The truth is that they are not in self-quarantine. They paid money to some officials when entering Malawi and, with that, bought their freedom.
"So, if I may ask, why should be the only ones suffering when other potentially 'dangerous' people who have just come into this country in the past 14 days are roaming free in locations and on the streets? It is not fair. If they sell us cheap food where we are staying, we will see no need to go to Kameza trading centre to buy food and drink beer," he said.
Meanwhile, Mhango has vowed to close all loopholes.
"If Malawians notice anyone willfully endangering the lives of others, let them inform us and we will take appropriate action. We, under the wise leadership of Professor Peter Mutharika, are committed to dealing with the Covid-19 threat once and for all.
"But, for us to win the battle, we must have unity of purpose. We must stand together. We must protect one another. We must love our nation," Mhango said on Tuesday.
Whatever the case, it is clear that Malawi is facing another silent crisis that is becoming alarmingly loud.
Malawi is one of the countries hit by Covid-19, also known as Coronavirus, with eight reported cases as of Tuesday and one case of death.
Due to the situation, planes of the big airlibes such as Kenyan, South African and Ethiopian are no longer flying into Malawi. However, those who flied into Malawi earlier, which is before the April 1 deadline, as well as those travellibg by bus from South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, among other countries, are being quarantined.
The country's president, Peter Mutharika, has weighed in on the situation, banning church gatherings, ordering that employees work in shifts, reducing the price of fuel, among other things, with those coming from Covid-19-hit countries required to go into 14-day quarantine.
The quarantine centre in Blantyre is situated in Kameza llcation, close to Kamuzu College of Nursing premises.
However, instead of remaining in-doors until the 14-day period is over, those under quarantine roam freely day and night, mingling with traders and Kameza residents as they buy food stuffs, water bottles and even drink water in the vicinity.
To make matters worse, they are doing so without any face-masks on, further endangering other people and throwing spanners in the work of the Cabinet Committee on Covid-19, which, through its chairperson Jappie Mhango, has vowed to put all hands to the wheel in a bid to stem Covid-19 patient and death cases in Malawi.
One of the people who are under quarantine at Kameza, who declined to be named for fear of attracting the ire of health officials, claimed that they have been left at the hands of natural devices and are being forced into a corner.
"We have people from South Africa, the United Kingdom, Kenya, among others, who do not have food and enough water to drink. We cannot afford expense food and we are, therefore, being forced to go out and look for these things.
"Actually, there is no security where we are staying and all this thing (aboit quarantine) depends on our good-will. I hope you have heard that some people in in self-quarantine (at home). The truth is that they are not in self-quarantine. They paid money to some officials when entering Malawi and, with that, bought their freedom.
"So, if I may ask, why should be the only ones suffering when other potentially 'dangerous' people who have just come into this country in the past 14 days are roaming free in locations and on the streets? It is not fair. If they sell us cheap food where we are staying, we will see no need to go to Kameza trading centre to buy food and drink beer," he said.
Meanwhile, Mhango has vowed to close all loopholes.
"If Malawians notice anyone willfully endangering the lives of others, let them inform us and we will take appropriate action. We, under the wise leadership of Professor Peter Mutharika, are committed to dealing with the Covid-19 threat once and for all.
"But, for us to win the battle, we must have unity of purpose. We must stand together. We must protect one another. We must love our nation," Mhango said on Tuesday.
Whatever the case, it is clear that Malawi is facing another silent crisis that is becoming alarmingly loud.
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