SHORTAGE OF QUARANTINE CENTERS WORRISOME AS COVID-19 CASES RISE

COVID-19 Task Force Coordinator, Dr Kereng Masupu and his team visited the North West District particularly Maun General Hospital which is being prepared as an isolation Center due to shortage of isolation centers in the region as they are currently full.

The district currently has 168 active cases of COVID-19 and six deaths .Only 20  people are presently quarantined at Botswana Open University in Maun. Majority of people  with COVID-19 are on home quarantine Due to lack of space at quarantine Centers.  Dr Masupu also added that the lack of space is also experienced in the Okavango Sub District. “The Okavango District also a problem of space and all the isolation facilities there ae full”, he added.

At present the Okavango District has 40 active cases of COVID-19 . The North West District has so far confirmed Six Covid-19 deaths recorded this  year with 317 cases of the Virus having been recorded since its outbreak  in March last year. The Task Force Coordinator encouraged Batswana to follow the set protocols to avoid catching the virus.

In a press briefing on the 12^th of January  the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Wellness Kabelo Ebineng  said that the new  Coronavirus variant 501.V2 was first recorded in Maun.