A health rights campaigner George Jobe has asked the authorities to seriously start addressing issues of Covid-19 immediately as the election period comes to an end.

Jobe, who is also the Executive Director of Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN), said since the election campaign began efforts to fight the pandemic have been ignored.

He said during the campaign period the nation has failed to observe preventive health measures on Covid-19 pandemic as everyone, including leaders, were only concentrating on political campaigns.

Jobe said the environment during the campaign period has put the country at risk of the spread of the pandemic.

He said: During the campaign, both the leaders and supporters of political parties in the country were busy with politics and forgot about the pandemic, a development which derailed the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Jobe further advised people to avoid travelling frequently to avoid further spreading and contracting the disease.

Political parties in the country have been blamed for failing to enforce preventive measures during their political campaign rallies, in preparation for the June 23 fresh presidential election.

The politicians were condemned for failing to enforce social distance measures to their followers, provide face masks, hand sanitizers and hand-washing equipment.

As of Thursday, June 25, the number of confirmed cases in the country was at 941.