Frustration Sets In Surprise Zonal Lockdown
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Monday June 15, 2020 16:24
On Friday, both the director of Health Services, Dr Malaki Tshipayagae and the coordinator of the presidential COVID-19 Task Force, Dr Kereng Masupu said in a televised announcement that officials had recorded four new imported cases at its borders and eight at a private hospital in Gaborone, bringing the cumulative cases to 60.
Furthermore, they announced that Gaborone Private Hospital (GPH) would remain shut till further notice as the hospital recorded eight of the 12 new cases.
Due to the increase in COVID-19 cases, the officials reinstated strict containment measures starting midnight last Friday until further notice.
“We are still to determine whether these are local transmissions. We are going to do contact tracing,” Tshipayagae said.
However, when addressing the media on Sunday, Masupu referred to the cases from GPH as “probable”.
“At the moment, there are 16 COVID-19 probables in Greater Gaborone Zone following the eight that were recorded on Friday, but the numbers might change,” Masupu said.
He added the ‘probable’ have not been confirmed, adding that they will inform the nation as soon as they have confirmed the probable cases.
He said following the latest probables, intensive targeted contact tracing has ensued while some contacts have been put on quarantine.
This has raised confusion and concern amongst members of the public as they fear authorities are not transparent about the COVID-19 situation in the country.
Many people on Sunday took to social media to show their frustration, discomfort and disappointment in government’s contradicting statements.
Before the 12 were announced, Botswana had one active case of the virus. The country had endured a two-month long lockdown from April, which ended at the end of May.
Despite undergoing a second lockdown this time zonal, the diamond-rich nation remains one of Africa’s least impacted countries, one of a handful with less than 100 cases of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, GPH has announced that they have been allowed to look after patients already in the facility until the last patient is discharged without taking new admissions.
The hospital stated that all staff would undergo testing while the facility would also be disinfected by early next week before reopening for normal business.