28 Apr 2020

Health teams have been deployed in Ramotswa, Molepolole and Siviya to augment District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) in order to conduct active case findings, President Dr Mokgweetsi Maisis has said.

Addressing the nation on April 27, President Masisi said the aforementioned places have had confirmed COVID-19 cases.

He said in Mahalapye and Bobonong, there were persons who formed part of the Metsimotlhabe COVID-19 outbreak, hence their inclusion in contact tracing. President Masisi said it was on the basis of these findings that the COVID-19 presidential task force team advised that the national lockdown period be extended by one week starting from May 1 to May 7 with two further weeks during which, the lockdown would be sequentially eased.

It was reported on April 22, 2020, that the two new cases of confirmed local COVID-19 transmission were diagnosed from Metsimotlhabe, and that the known contacts of the two cases had been placed in mandatory quarantine and were awaiting further testing.

He said in the unlikely scenario that there were unknown contacts from the two cases; such contacts posed the risk of spreading COVID-19 for 14 days starting from April 22 to May 6.

“It therefore follows that any person exposed within the aforementioned 14 days should have completed their self-isolation between May 7 and May 21, 2020,” said President Masisi. Ends