Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has declared a state of disaster in an address to the nation delivered hours after two cabinet ministers died from COVID-19 amid a spike in coronavirus infections. Transport Minister Sidik Mia and Local Government Minister Lingson Berekanyama both succumbed to the disease in the early hours of Tuesday, the government spokesman said. They were senior members of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the main partner in an alliance that unseated former President Peter Mutharika in June last year. The deaths followed a cabinet meeting and other gatherings attended by politicians over the Christmas period, but officials did not say where the victims were infected. All 31 of Malawi’s cabinet attended the meeting in the president’s oval office on December 21, and the following day Labour Minister Ken Kandodo reporting having contracted the coronavirus. He has since recovered. Another minister, Rashid Gaffar, is self-isolating at home.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
More Articles
An App that Aims to make Legal Services more Accessible to all Nigerians
Liberia: Storage Facility to Be Powered By Solar-Hybrid System
A Three Decade Stalemate in Somalia Continues Unabated
The Aftermath of Conflict in Tigray Can Still Be Felt
Senegalese Top Student Seems to be On Hiatus
Seychelles Reopens its Borders and Drops Quarantine Requirements for Vaccinated Travelers
Namibia Switches to Safer Fishing Lines
UK Firm Fined for Polluting a Zambian Village
Ugandan Opposition Cooped Up in His Home