Table 1. Recruitment and characteristics of the participants in the nine focus groups.

Cadre	FGDs in Lilongwe	FGDs in Blantyre	Total
Total Number of Participants	41	30	71
Type of cadres participating
Clinical Officers	7	5	12
Health Surveillance Officers	8	9	17
Environmental Health Officers	10	9	19
Laboratory Technicians	16	7	23
Sex
Female n (%)	24 (59%)	12 (40%)	36 (51%)
Male n (%)	17 (41%)	18 (60%	35 (49%)
Age ranges
Under 25	3	1	4
25–34	20	11	31
35–44	11	12	23
45–54	4	3	7
55 and over	3	3	6
Years of Participation in COVID-19 data collection, n
2020 only	1	4	7
2021 only	1	4	9
2022 only	0	1	11
More than one year	8	12	11
All Years	20	19	39
Type of training received (if any)
On the job	21	4	25
Orientation	2	10	12
No training	18	16	34
Location where participants were involved in data collection, n
Health Facility	27	29	56
Private Institutions	20	24	44
Ports of Entry	8	22	30
Schools	20	18	38
Prisons	13	17	30
All types	5	11	16
Highest Number on average of cases participants filled each week, n
10–50	12	11	23
50–100	15	9	24
100–200	6	5	11
200–500	7	5	12