Botswana Could Win Against COVID-19 – Wang
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Tuesday September 7, 2021 06:00
In an interview with The Monitor, this week, Wang said he has hope that Botswana could control the virus in the same way China successfully stopped the spread within one and half months. Currently, the country has recorded 2,276 deaths and has 496 new positive cases, according to the August 30, 2021 report.
There is a decrease in the number of new positive cases and President Mokgweetsi Masisi has announced that the State of Emergency (SoE) will not be extended. “Measures such as mass testing and contact tracing, isolation of confirmed and suspected patients and lockdowns of high-risk areas have proven effective in rapidly controlling this wave of the epidemic,” said Wang. “Thirdly, stricter protection measures must be taken in facilities with higher risk. In China, they are ports, airports, tourist attractions, theatres, entertainment and sports stadia, and education and training centres,” Wang said.
He said mass vaccination helps to control COVID-19, as it did in China, as data shows that people who got fully vaccinated only made up less than five percent of the total severe cases infected by the Delta variant. The ambassador said if control measures are loosened, then efforts made in the past year will go in vain.
On Friday, President Masisi said: “As a result of compliance to these restrictions, we have seen a gradual decrease in the number of new infections and deaths over this period.
As of August 14, 2021, we had 13,380 active cases relating to more than 1,000 cases per day with a positivity rate of 27%. By August 30,2021, active cases dropped to 5,146 and daily cases halved with a positivity rate at nine percent, nearly a threefold decrease. We have also witnessed a significant decrease in hospital admissions with a 70% decline in patients admitted into our COVID-19 treatment facilities".
He said the country has managed to fully vaccinate 21.6% of the eligible population of about 1,531,000 people. The President said even if they ease some restrictions, people should be cognisant of the recent detection of a new C.1.2 variant in the country.