Torrential downpours and flooding had destroyed over 300 health facilities in Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique, making it more challenging for displaced victims to seek medical help.
Freddy, still on track to become one of the world's longest tropical storms, leaves more than 460 people dead, says UN, with 360 in Malawi, 86 in Mozambique and 17 in Madagascar.
Rescuers struggle to dig up decomposing bodies from the mud and the debris of homes that had been swept away by the storm that lingered in eastern Africa since late February.
President Lazarus Chakwera declares two weeks of national mourning after Cyclone Freddy pummels the southeast African nation and its neighbour Mozambique, killing more than 60 there.
Weather conditions were expected to improve as the storm dissipated over land after days of torrential rains, but flood levels remained high in some areas hampering emergency efforts.
Freddy has left a trail of destruction in Malawi and Mozambique after it made landfall for the second time over the weekend.
Freddy is one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the southern hemisphere and could be the longest-lasting tropical cyclone, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
President Chakwera dissolved his entire cabinet last year citing corruption allegations against ministers.
Some cultural beliefs and hostility towards health workers blamed for slowing efforts to curb infections which also sent over 1,100 others to the hospital.
World Health Organization chief describes the southeast African country as among the hardest-hit amid ongoing global epidemics that are "more widespread and deadly than normal".
Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima has been charged with several counts of corruption and taking bribes to influence government contracts, the Anti-Corruption Bureau said.
The WHO declared that the strain was linked to one that has been spreading in Pakistan, where it is still endemic.
Subscribe to our Youtube channel for all latest in-depth, on the ground reporting from around the world.
Copyright © 2023 TRT World.
Like
Follow