19 Aug 2020

COVID-19 containment hinges heavily on ensuring communities are well informed, says Mabutsane District Health Management Team (DHMT) Dr Christopher Chembe.

 In his presentation to the  Mabutsane Sub-district on matters surrounding the pandemic on August 18, Dr Chembe said councilors were well positioned to deliver such education.

 It was therefore vital for councillors as gate-keepers of their communities to be well informed on matters concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

“Unless and until members of the community are informed about these matters, we will never defeat the pandemic. An informed community will make sure, without being policed, reduce unnecessary movement, cooperate during contact tracing, respect the need to self-isolate and follow the rest of the protocols on their own. So educating them should be our main concern and councillors can come in handy on that aspect,” he said.

Dr Chembe said the country had been so far been lucky as most of the cases detected had been mild and did put much pressure on available health resources. 

He however cautioned against ignoring simple COVID-19 symptoms such as abnormal temperature and fever.

“We are aware that the symptoms are close to those of the common flu but people should not just assume its flu and in the meantime continue embracing the cheapest and effective methods of preventing transmission, such as washing of hands with soap,” he said.

Dr Chembe said sanitizers should not be used as a replacement of washing hands but just as a complement.

Councillors heard that DHMT was still awaiting water and power  connection to the porta cabins availed by Debswana Jwaneng Mine for use as an isolation centre.

He admitted that connection of the amenities was long overdue, which had now forced the sub district to send suspected cases to Jwaneng.

Dr Chembe was responding to nominated councillor, Mr Poloko Mokwaise’s question as to when the porta cabins would be connected with amenities as they had been lying idle for too long. 

Meanwhile, Mabutsane sub councillors have condemned gender based violence, which had become a major concern.

The councillors said the rate of violence in the country was so high and deep rooted that it called for leaders, especially political leadership, to stand up and strongly speak about the issue.

Statistics, they said,  revealed that GBV escalated during the lockdown period necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

They expressed fears that cases of violence would increase with more lockdowns.

Of even greater concern, they said, was the high number of defilement recorded during lockdown with many a girl-child failing to return to school due to pregnancy.

  They urged the community and relatives to report such cases instead of concealing them.ends