Public gatherings worry doctors
Medical experts have blamed politicians and the public for failing to adhere to Covid pandemic prevention guidelines in many gatherings across the country.
The blame comes amid concerns that Covid measures are not being followed, mostly, during funeral ceremonies, political party gatherings, weddings and as well as at entertainment and religious festivals.
The Interventional Epidemiology expert, Dr Titus Divala, fears that the Covid pandemic could spread out again in the country if such gathering continues to be left uncontrolled.
He said controlling the transmission of the pandemic requires following strict measures when the transmission is high and slowly graduating to a less stringent state over time.
“While civil servants running the national response have been doing an excellent job providing evidence and suggesting the acceptable level of restrictions, politicians and the public have consistently failed,” he said.
Divala said failure to adhere to these measures enhances transmission and moves the country backwards.
He said fighting the Covid pandemic requires taking away some freedoms and rights, steps which both politicians and the general public feel uncomfortable with.
On his part Society of Medical Doctors Association President, Victor Mithi said the association also observed with sadness that people were not following Covid measure.
“It is a very dangerous step that we are taking. It may result in the fourth wave of Covid. This is coming at a point where there is very little demand of Covid vaccine,” Mithi said
Principal Secretary for health Charles Mwansambo said it was unfortunate that amid advocacy by the government and partners, people were still not observing the preventive measures.
“We seem to quickly forget how dreadful Covid is,” Mwansambo said
Health and Human Rights advocate Maziko Matemba said while this was the case, a majority of Malawians was not vaccinated which posed a greater threat.
