Vendors decry easing of Covid-19 measures

Vendors selling face masks have described as a setback the decision by the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 to stop mandatory wearing of facemasks in public places as a preventative measure.

During a press briefing on Friday in Lilongwe on revised Covid-19 measures, Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, who is the co-chairperson of the task force, announced the easing of restrictions, including on wearing of face masks and limitation of number of people gathering for both indoor and outdoor functions.

She said the easing of restrictive measures against the Covid-19 pandemic follows a drop in new infections and deaths.

But in random interviews yesterday face mask vendors said the new order will affect them.

Sangwani Mphadwe, one of the vendors, who has been making a living out of selling face masks near Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, said the lifting of the restrictions means he is basically out of business and ‘jobless.’

He said: “For a year now the business has been helping me feed my family including paying school fees for my little sister.”

Mphadwe, 25, said he raised about K12 500 last Tuesday from selling face masks alone.

Another vendor John Christopher, who plies his trade at Chichiri Shopping Centre in Blantyre, said he has no idea what he will do next.

Government imposed strict restrictions, including the mandatory wearing of masks in public at the peak of the pandemic in April 2020.

As of Monday, Malawi has recorded 88 046 positive cases and 2 682 deaths. For the past two months, the country has been recording an average of a single positive case a day.