Lilongwe City Mayor Warns Bar Owners of Closure Due to Poor Sanitation Amid Cholera Outbreak

Malawi: Lilongwe City Mayor Richard Banda has warned bar owners that the council will close their bars if sanitation is not up to standard, writes Judgment Katika.

Banda stated that the council has already sent staff to ensure that measures from the task force on COVID-19 and cholera are followed.

He also appealed to city residents to be hygienic in their businesses and home activities to prevent cholera outbreaks.

This AfricanBrief reporter saw that all the bars in Lilongwe City are experiencing poor sanitation, particularly in Area 23 Tank, which threatens the spread of cholera within the city.

Due to rising cases of a cholera outbreak, the government closed primary and secondary schools in Lilongwe and Blantyre for the past two weeks but reopened them on Tuesday this week.

Since it started in March last year, the cholera outbreak has killed 847 people, and more than 1,000 people have been hospitalized in this country.