Covid-19 kills four senior Malawi officials in a day as infections skyrocket  

Two cabinet ministers and two senior politicians in Malawi died of Covid-19 over a 24-hour period as the country recorded its sharpest rise in cases since the start of the pandemic.

Local government minister Lingson Belekanyama and minister of transport Sidik Mia both passed away in the early hours of Tuesday, while two other senior government figures have also died, authorities have said in separate statements.

"This morning alone, Covid-19's crusade of death claimed the lives of two high-ranking government officials," President Lazarus Chakwera said in a radio address to the nation on Tuesday.

The deaths followed a cabinet meeting in December where all 31 members of Malawi's cabinet gathered at the president's office, although it is unclear where the victims were infected. Other ministers have been infected but have since recovered or are self-isolating.

"We presently find ourselves in one of the darkest hours in our nation’s history. We have entered the eye of this pandemic's storm," Mr Chakwera added, urging Malawians to wear masks and socially distance to help prevent the spread of the virus.

On Monday, Malawi recorded 452 new cases and 10 new deaths, the highest daily numbers since the virus was first detected in the country in April, according to the head of the Covid-19 presidential taskforce, John Phuka. Authorities have suspended all major public events and are pondering declaring a state of emergency.

The landlocked country in southeastern Africa, which is home to 18 million people, has recorded a total of over 9,000 cases of Covid-19 and 235 deaths.

While this is a fraction of the number of infections and deaths reported in Europe and the United States, nearly 30 percent of total confirmed coronavirus cases have been registered in the past two weeks, Mr Chakwera said.

Former central bank governor Francis Perekamoyo, as well as the principal secretary of the ministry of information Ernest Kantchentche, also died of the disease on Monday.

Since December, Africa has recorded the fastest rise in new cases in the world, with daily new cases now topping the previous peak of July.

The rise is led by South Africa, which battles a new, more infectious strain of the virus now responsible for a majority of new cases. 

Botswana and Zambia have also detected the new strain while there are fears it could have reached Zimbabwe as thousands of Zimbabweans living in South Africa returned home to see their families over the holiday period.

South Africa alone has recorded nearly 1.3 million cases of coronavirus. The country has imposed a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., sales of alcohol have been banned and gatherings restricted.

Nigeria, Ethiopia, Namibia and Zimbabwe have also reported a large proportion of new cases over the past weeks.

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