Responding to the pandemic
Malawi seemed to fare comparably well during 2020 but cases of people with Covid-19 increased exponentially at the start of this year. Although new cases appear to be slowing, we are hearing reports that hospitals are full to capacity and there is a serious shortage of oxygen.
While there is reported optimism in Malawi that the first Covid vaccines will be available in March, it seems clear that Malawi will be far behind the global north in terms of large-scale vaccine roll-outs. The Economist Intelligence Unit predicts that countries such as Malawi may not have wide access to vaccines until 2022 or 2023.
Official figures are reporting a decrease in new cases from 26th January and a decrease in deaths from 3rd February, although many fear there are increasing instances of people choosing not to travel to hospitals. Many fear that the official Covid death figures very significantly under-represent prevalence, community transmission and mortality.
The consequences for our partners are far-reaching. Open Arms has had to limit its residential numbers in Mangochi but has managed to increase outreach to meet a growing demand for its support.
Oxygen is in desperately short supply but there are emergency initiatives underway, such as the Scotland-Malawi Oxygen Supply Coordination Group, to fix the numerous broken oxygen concentrators within Malawian hospitals.
Schools were reopened in February but without essential PPE, teachers and students are nervous of returning. We have been working with our partners at MCV, Thom's Colourful Classrooms and Bolera Palms to secure thermometers, cleaning equipment and masks.
Sport continues to play a huge role raising morale. In return for sponsorship, these same teams are vital to supporting important environmental programmes of our partners in Zomba.
As a result of the collapse in tourism, the trees are increasingly vulnerable to people who have lost their jobs and are desperate for fuel.
The Watson's school trip is unlikely to take place for a second year running but our fundraising continues undaunted and we are managing to maintain our work with our partners.
You can see what some of our partners have to say about the pandemic in their updates below.