An influential health rights lobby group has lashed at the business community accusing them of laxity in taking preventive measures to help contain Coronavirus.
The observation has been made by Executive Director for the Malawi Health Equity Network George Jobe.
According to Jobe, the county has not been taking abrupt measures although a case has thus far not been reported.
However, some public institutions in the country have started planting handwashing tubes around their premises. For instance, at the Polytechnic in Blantyre, insight is basins with soap that people are using to clean their hands.
Jobe is however of the view that in terms of public gatherings, measures are still not been taken to discourage people from being in public spaces.
‘’ At the moment, public commuters still ferrying four passengers per seat a thing that is not only against the rules on the roads but also hindering efforts set-up in preparing for the virus not to spread in the country,’’ said Jobe.
He has since called on the Minibus Owners Association of Malawi to take part in cluster meetings being held by the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders.
On his part, MOAM Secretary-General Felix Mbonekera urged passengers to deny to beat the capacity of commuters.
According to Mbonekera, the association will work together with the road traffic authorities to intensify road checkpoints to ensure adherence to bus passenger capacity by minibus operators in the wake of the deadly coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Joseph Patel, General Secretary for Independent Schools Association of Malawi has said they are at the moment urging learners in schools across the country to stop shaking hands as a way of preventing the spread of the virus.
The concerns are rising as neighboring Tanzania has recorded its first case.
Sub-Saharan Africa has not been hit as hard or as early by a coronavirus, despite predictions by many experts who had warned that the high traffic between the continent and China, where the outbreak started, would set off the infection in Africa. Instead, it has been mostly people coming from Europe and North America who have carried the virus to Africa.
Several African nations, including Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, South Sudan, and South Africa the sub-Saharan country with the most cases recently imposed travel bans on swathes of Europe and the United States, countries that for years have set strict limits on Africans entering their borders.