LILONGWE, June 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The health authorities in Malawi’s northern city of Mzuzu say 158 people have received treatment for various injuries they suffered following a stampede that ensued when thousands of mostly young people reported for government job interviews.
The health ministry announced that it was hiring hundreds of health workers to go to rural communities as health surveillance assistants (HSA).
Applicants were told to attend walk-in interviews at various centres across the country.
Tens of thousands thronged interview centres in the capital, Lilongwe, and in the southern city of Blantyre.
But it was in the city of Mzuzu, in the north, where a huge stampede resulted in injuries.
At all the centres there were no signs of adherence to their own covid-19 protocols.
Officials at Mzuzu Central Hospital in northern Malawi said more than 80 people were brought in with injuries, some requiring X-rays and operations.
Many of those seeking jobs came without face masks, raising the possibility that more people will get infected with the coronavirus.
As of Tuesday, Malawi had confirmed 443 COVID-19 cases with 4 deaths.
Medical workers have faulted the health ministry for ignoring social distancing measures.
The president of the Society of Medical Doctors in Malawi, Victor Mithi, told a local station that the development is disappointing.
“Knowing that there is a higher level of unemployment in Malawi, one would then expect that calling for such an interview would act as a harboring area of COVID-19 spread,” he said.
Job interviews have continued despite calls from health rights activists to suspend them until the COVID-19 crisis is contained.
Across Africa, millions of young Africans remain jobless and its always a struggle among them for limited job placements. — NNN-AGENCIES