12 Apr 2020

Women Against Rape (WAR) organisation executive director has urged government to consider putting all people with mental illness in quarantines in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus).

Ms Peggy Ramaphane said this in an interview, arguing that such people, were at high risk of spreading or contacting the coronavirus because they moved from place to place despite government’s efforts to encourage all to stay home.

Some, Ms Ramaphane said, had no shelter and while some had places to stay but were uncontrollable.

She argued that quarantining them would be ideal because they would be managed, fed and monitored in one place.

She revealed that there were many mentally unstable persons in Maun and failure to assist them would undermine government’s efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

Also, she indicated that her organisation had joined forces with government to ensure compliance with the extreme social distancing protocols.

She explained that they had an opportunity to visit areas such as Shorobe and its catchment areas and appreciated that people were adhering to safety measures, given each household had a water dispensary container but some did not have soap.

She said they had engaged the district leadership to see how best they could assist villagers who were in need of soap.

During their visits, she said they also demonstrated to villagers how to use the water dispensary.

Nevertheless, Ms Ramaphane expressed concern about a lot of movement around shopping complexes in Maun noting that people should understand that they could easily spread the virus as they moved about.

Thus, she urged the public to take care of their health and protect the people around them by adhering to the COVID-19 regulations.

The public was also advised to stay informed on the latest developments about COVID-19.

Ms Ramaphane also advised them to visit websites of Ministry of Health and Wellness, WAR, District Health Management Team and World Health Organisation (WHO) to learn more about the COVID-19 and get updates. Ends