Survey shows that most Malawians fear hunger than COVID-19

The survey was conducted by Malawi’s Institute of Public Opinion and Research (Ipor) and the Swedish researchers between May 7 and May 28 this year.

A statement from Ipor said “the majority of Malawians are not very worried about becoming infected with COVID19. The percentage varies across districts, with the highest amount of concern in Chipita and Karonga, on the Tanzanian border, but most are not very worried.”

The research showed that 81% of the respondents said they were scared of hunger than COVID-19 which has killed many across the world.

About 60% of the respondents said they were concerned about the collapse of the healthcare system in the country while another 76% the stigma that comes with contracting the virus.

The authors of the survey said that even people who are above 55 years who should be more concerned about the virus are rather less worried.

The survey showed that most Malawians were concerned about hunger, healthcare, and stigma from the virus than contracting COVID-19 itself.

Malawi has so far recorded 358 cases of Covid-19 with 42 recoveries and 4 deaths. There are fears that the country could suffer major devastation due to the pandemic if containment measures are not implemented.