Study exposes Covid-19 existing gaps

A “Protect study” by the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust has found that Covid-19 is common and prevalent in Blantyre and current reported cases are an underestimate of the burden of the disease.

Addressing the media through a virtual conference, Dr Kondwani Jambo, a senior research associate at MLWT said the study has shown that Covid-19 has spread a lot and most people who have it are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.

Jambo said it is important to shield people who are susceptible to severe Covid-19 disease, such as the elderly and people with underlying health conditions.

The research which enlisted health care workers, otherwise asymptomatic males and females within the age of 18 to 65 found that 12 out every hundred health workers have had Covid-19 in the past.

However the numbers were higher among males as compared to females with 14 out of every hundred males and 11 females out of every hundred previously suffered from Covid-19.

Going by the outcome of the research, Dr. Jambo said Malawi should have expected more deaths since the  disease has been among us for a long time and Malawi is lucky that it has not come to a disaster.

“If we compare the level of which the virus might have spread we should have registered more deaths but we haven’t seen that, our hospitals would have been overwhelmed by now”.

On the other hand Dr. Marah Chibwana, a clinical research associate at MLWT outlined the recommendations of the study which include the mandatory use of face masks in public places and locally driven research to assist in policy decisions.

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