The Minister of Health and Child Care Doctor Obadiah Moyo has confirmed that there is an extremely thin line between symptoms of malaria and those of the Covid-19 disease currently sweeping through the world calling for extended screening efforts.

The Minister’s statement comes after villagers from Gwanda South raised concerns on a sudden increase in the number of people falling ill and some dying of a strange malaria which they believed to be the ravaging Covid-19 due to the high similarities of the symptoms.

Addressing a press conference ahead of the World Malaria Day today, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo said his ministry was worried with the sudden rise in malaria cases during the Coronavirus era.

Moyo said that the Ministry is immediately working on making sure that all malaria cases are screened for the Coronavirus confirming the fears that the malaria deaths so far incurred may have been Covid-19 ignored cases.

Dr Moyo said the country had through the years begun to see gains in the fight against malaria which this year has seen a sudden unprecedented increase.

“However, these gains are being threatened by the Covid-19 pandemic, a disease which has common initial symptoms to malaria, which include fever, headache, generalised body pains and weakness,” said Dr Moyo.

“If not treated early, the disease progresses to severe malaria and the patient experiences difficulties in breathing, liver and kidney failure and confusion.”

Dr Moyo said on the other hand, ongoing efforts to contain Covid-19 impacted negatively on access to malaria testing and treatment services, especially in remote services.

Furthermore, Dr Moyo said the unavailability of PPEs, which the country was experiencing until Thursday, resulted in health workers, including community cadres failing to comprehensively examine and test malaria cases as they had signs and symptoms similar to Covid-19.

“Village health workers were reluctant to assist patients with say a fever because of the similarity in symptoms of malaria and Covid-19, but now since we have enough PPEs, we are now going to make sure that they are all well protected as they approach these patients,” said Dr Moyo.

“So, it was really an issue of PPEs, which are going to be distributed countrywide and we will be taking care of both Covid 19 and malaria.

“Once the village health workers get their PPE, they will continue doing their malaria tests and screening, but we can also train them to be able to test for Covid-19 so that we take care of both conditions at the same time.”