Botswana-SA Cross-Border Travel Declines

This is despite the government having issued warnings that Batswana should minimise their travels to countries that are highly affected by coronavirus (COVID-19). SA is one such country with 240 reported cases by the weekend.

Coronavirus is spread through aerosol droplets that infect one from either a cough or sneeze, or makes contact with a contaminated surface. Its symptoms are high fever, cough, fatigue, headache and difficulty in breathing. Just on Friday, the Tlokweng border gate registered 1,126 people who were crossing to SA and 1,829 coming into Botswana. “Tlokweng border is one of the busiest borders and our assessment and figures show that the numbers of arrivals and departures have gone down drastically due to the outbreak of coronavirus. Out of 2,955 arrivals and departures, 1,539 people were Batswana, which is 52%,” immigration administrator, Emmanuel Lephirimile said.