Mary Chilima calls for stronger Covid-19 fight
Mary Chilima, who is Vice-President Saulos Chilima’s wife, has asaked organisations and individuals to engage an extra gear in the fight against Covid-19 if the country is to avoid a resurge of cases.
She made the call yesterday when she donated 10 000 face masks to physically challenged primary and secondary school learners in the country through Ministry of Education.
While noting that Covid-19 cases and deaths are dropping, Chilima feared there could be a resurgence of Covid-19 cases if people, including learners with disabilities, are not equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE).
She said: “I encourage my fellow Malawians that now that it is almost gone, let’s get stronger to ensure that this last bit is done because if we don’t and if it does come back stronger, each one of us will be affected in one way or another.”
The masks will be distributed to physically challenged learners in 18 primary and six secondary schools nationwide.
Chilima said she received 10 000 masks from Masks4ALL Malawi, but decided to donate to learners with special needs in the face of Covid-19 pandemic while schools are re-opening.
Some of the schools to benefit from the donation are Chayamba Secondary School in Kasungu, Salima Resource Centre for the Blind, Mua School for the Blind in Dedza, Malingunde Resource Centre, Namitete Secondary School, Chimwala Resource Centre in Mangochi and Matundu Resource Centre in Nsanje.
Minister of Education Agnes NyaLonje acknowledged in an interview that there are at least 173 000 physically challenged learners who are prone to contracting the deadly virus.
Civil Society Education Coalition (Csec) executive director Benedicto Kondowe said in a separate interview that government should strictly consider devising some remedies for learners who cannot use masks while learning.
The country has since registered 177 deaths against 5 690 confirmed cases. As of yesterday, there were 1 782 active cases with a total of 3 731 recoveries.
