Malawi’s Tobacco Commission has announced that the opening of the tobacco marketing season will be delayed by at least one month due to the coronavirus pandemic, reports The Maravi Post.

Malawi may not have registered a single coronavirus case, however, it is already taking its toll on business. President Peter Mutharika declared a “State of National Disaster”, disallowing gatherings of more than 100 people which coincides with the planned opening of the 2020 tobacco season whose meetings are above said threshold, reports The Maravi Post.
The Tobacco Commission (TC) has therefore agreed to move the opening of the tobacco season back and monitor the situation surrounding the coronavirus closely.
“The commission therefore called upon the industry captains to chat the way forward in view of the declaration. At its meeting, on Monday, March 26, 2020, the industry stakeholders agreed to monitor closely the situation on the ground for at least a period of one month from now”, says the commission’s CEO Kayisi Sadala.