Malawi cancels Independence Day celebrations due to COVID-19

Malawian President, Lazarus Chakwera has announced the cancellation of Independence Day celebrations in the country.

According to a report by SABC news, the president in a televised address to the country said celebrations would risk the spread of the  deadly coronavirus.

Independence Day or Republic Day, is celebrated annually on July 6 commemorating Malawi’s independence in 1966 from Britain’s colonial rule.

This year, the celebration was to be restricted to 20, 000 citizens, but this has been cancelled.

The president announced an increase of 150 new cases of Covid-19 in the country, raising the total number of cases in the country to 1613, representing a 7% increase.

President Chakwera said that the money from the celebrations would instead be channelled towards the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.