Farida gives us an update on Coronavirus in Malawi and how RSC are all doing.
How are we?
Our team on the ground is safe and has been working from home since March. The cases in Malawi are slowly increasing, now reaching a total of 1038 confirmed cases and 13 deaths. Sadly we have had to make staff redundancies but our skeleton team are keeping things ticking and we hope to rehire once things open up.
What is the situation like?
Malawians have really handled the situation well and have maintained a great level of calmness. Shopkeepers have placed handwashing stations outside of their stores and some have sanitizing stations upon entrance. Big events were cancelled prior to the re-election that has recently ended, however, people took to the streets during the campaign period & we are hoping for people to observe strict measures of social distancing from here.
How has covid affected the tourism industry in Malawi?
With the borders being closed, visitors have not been traveling into Malawi, so that means that many businesses have had to close their doors or rely solely on local business, which has led to the loss of jobs within the sector.
There has been a lot of speculation about when the borders will be opening & that means businesses have begun preparing themselves for this and continue to maintain a safe environment for visitors.
What are our hopes?
We hope that the cases will stabilize and perhaps drop globally & that travel resumes or can be carried out in the safest way possible. We also hope that governments may continue to support their tourism sectors and perhaps provide stipends/loans to tourism business owners to help sustain them during this otherwise difficult time.
What can you look forward to once travel bans are lifted?
We are using this to re do our company website and prepare to welcome you all back in 2021 with some amazing new expeditions ready for different types of travellers. You can find them by clicking on this link here:
Skills expeditions - https://www.orbis-skills.com/ and Sports expeditions - https://www.orbis-challenge.com/
Or do follow us on Instagram @rscmalawi
We are grateful for all the love and support you continue to show us during this time and we look forward to reuniting with you and welcoming new faces, to new places. Love Farida x
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