Malawi records 3 cases of Omicron

By ARNALDO VIEIRA

Malawi has recorded three cases of Omicron, the country´s health minister said Thursday in Lilongwe.

Countries reporting cases of Omicron variant in Africa include Botswana, Ghana, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Serra Leone, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Omicron was first classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on November 26 as a “variant of concern.”

“This is to confirm that we now have Omicron in our country,” Mr Khumbize Chiponda Malawi health minister told reporters Thursday in Lilongwe.

“Let me inform the nation that through the samples that we have collected from November 9 to December 2 for genomic sequencing, we have isolated three cases of Omicron variant form the 12 samples analysed,” he added.

According to the government official, the country has observed a slight increase in the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases.

“On Covid-19 statistics, as of December 8, 2021, Malawi has recorded a total of 62,053 cases including 2,307 deaths, giving us a Case Fatality Ratio of 3.72%”.

“Of these cases, 59,335 (95.6%) were locally transmitted. Cumulatively, 58,826 cases have now recovered (recovery rate of 95%),” he added.

On Wednesday, Botswana recorded 25 cases of the Omicron while Namibia detected 18 cases.

Last week, Botswana president Mokgweetsi Masisi said some of the first cases of the Omicron variant were detected in foreign diplomats who had travelled to the country from Europe.

“People are getting angry because neighbouring Botswana is imposing vaccine mandates on those who are passing through their borders,” Namibia President Hage Geingob said Monday during the 37th Covid-19 public briefing.

“Botswana is not stopping individuals from travelling through the country but is merely asking for vaccination passports. The point is, just get vaccinated. The refusal to accept the vaccine mandate is unacceptable,” he added.

Two weeks ago, Angola shut its borders with seven southern African countries, including Namibia, to curb the spread of the new variant.

It joined several countries globally, including the UK, France and the US, which banned flights from southern Africa following the detection of the variant.