Chakwera set to outline Malawi exit plan to Covid restrictions

President Lazarus Chakwera is expected to detail on Sunday evening   the path to gradually lift Covid-19 pandemic-related restrictions in Malawi , depending on the vaccination campaign.

Chakwera will give his televised Covid-19 update this evening, which will be his last until  further notice.

Last Sunday, President Chakwera indicated that this Sunday he will outline the measures his administration has developed to  “cushion the poor”  against the economic aftershocks of the pandemic,  “to  revitalize the business sector, and to get us back on  track with our agenda for transforming our country. “

He said : “Our goal  is to get the positivity rate down to 5% or lower, because  that is when we can safely ease restrictions and allow the economy to breathe.

“Notwithstanding, our long-term strategy for returning all  aspects of our society to normal includes the roll out of  a vaccine to protect the general population.”

He said the African Union’s Envoy on Africa’s Response to Covid-19 has guaranteed Malawi 100 000 vaccines for frontline health workers.

Chakwera said: “Although the delivery of that consignment has been delayed by seven days, we are on track to receive it by the end of this month, along with 1.5 million doses of the vaccine that we expect to receive around the same time.”

Speaking during the 46th Session of the  United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland, which is the first for Malawi since its election to the Council last October, Justice Minister Titus Mvalo  called for fair and equitable access to the vaccine and resources in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mvalo admitted the ravaging effects the virus continues to have on socio-economic being of Malawians.

Said Mvalo: “The current Covid-19 pandemic—which has spared no people, no nation and no continent—is a gruesome reminder that we, indeed, are human beings with common frailties. To defeat this scourge, we need united effort in sharing expertise, knowledge and resources.

“Fighting the pandemic is a daunting task and collective efforts and solidarity is important. Fair and equitable access to the vaccine and resources would be important on the global level. In a quest to fight the pandemic, Malawi adopted restrictive measures in order to protect human rights and human health in declaring a State-of-National Disaster on January 12 2021 due to Covid-19.”

He said the pandemic has exposed Malawi’s vulnerable groups and that government is assessing its effects on the health, education, economy and the labour market, to identify reforms that it could undertake to stimulate the economy and protect livelihoods.

Last year, Malawi defied the path taken by the rest of the African continent in fighting the virus as the High Court barred the government from confining citizens to their homes.

Last April, judges ruled that there were not enough measures in place to cushion the loss of livelihoods in the poor Southern African country.

But Chakwera last month ordered a night curfew,  as part of measures, the government also banned gatherings and made mask-wearing mandatory for the first time since the pandemic began.

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