By Loness Gwazanga, MANA
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Dan Namarika has refuted rumours circulating that Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the country are being fabricated, arguing that there was no motivation to do so.
Dr. Namarika made the clarification recently in Blantyre during a Press Briefing.
He said the Ministry works with reputable partners such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and that the cases are thoroughly verified before being made public.
“There are other people that are critics to the Covid-19 updates; what you need to know is that we are dealing with science and the beauty with it is evidence and data. It is not something that one can just sit down and create. The evidence is there.
“The Malawi Health Service System has all our partners on the table like WHO, Centre for Disease Control and therefore, there was no reason and motivation to fabricate the figures as they can be verified by anyone of us,” he said.
“We have a clear quality control laboratory service that is being provided. Let’s trust our system and that the figures being given are a true reflection of how the pandemic has hit the country,” Namarika added.
“We are at war with the virus and it’s up to us as Malawians to choose life. We have the opportunity now to control the disease but if we do not make the decisions now, the disease will control us and once it controls us, the battle will be difficult for all of us,” the Secretary for Health said.
Globally, about 2.5 million cases and an associated 180, 000 deaths have been recorded and the number is expected to rise as countries keep recording new cases every day.
