25 Aug 2020

Serowe District Health Management Team (DHMT) has noted with concern, the community’s lack of compliance to COVID-19 protocols.

Addressing Serowe Sub-council meeting on Monday, chairperson, Mr Lesedi Phuthego said DHMT had realised that masks were not properly used.

Hand hygiene, he said, was not done as recommended and registration at different organisations did not capture all the necessary information.

Mr Phuthego said DHMT planned to continue sensitising the community on the importance of complying with COVID-19 protocols.

He said the sub-district had a case of a Motswana truck driver from South Africa who tested positive for COVID-19 at Martins Drift Border Post on July 27.

Mr Phuthego said the client was admitted at Serowe isolation site and was stable with no symptoms.

He was discharged after testing negative on two occasions and all contacts tested negative.

“DHMT has managed to identify three quarantine sites through the office of district commissioner. They are Hill View Guesthouse, Cycad Hotel and Basiamisi Guesthouse,” stated Mr Phuthego.

Collectively, they had 26 rooms and would be used to admit any person who had contact with a positive case and whose home situation was not conducive for quarantine.

Mr Phuthego said in June, DHMT trained 454 COVID-19 contact tracers who comprised of Tirelo Setshaba participants, interns, government volunteer scheme officers and Red Cross.

He said corpses requiring post mortem should be tested for COVID-19 before being processed.

On other issues, Mr Phuthego said Serowe landfill continued to receive waste of different categories from neighbouring sub-districts and other local authorities including clinical waste for incineration.

He said the department of environmental health was faced with a challenge of illegal dumping of waste, adding that maintenance of the site had been poor due to breakdown of the tractor loader backhoe.

Mr Phuthego said the sub-district had two running contracts for refuse collection and cleaning of Serowe mall as well as refuse collection in 426 institutional houses and 26 council institutions.

In addition, he said, two contractors were engaged in May and June for refuse collection in Serowe.

Concerning the abattoir, Mr Phuthego said it received and slaughtered 20 cattle per day.

He said plans to upgrade equipment and machinery in the slaughter line to automation in order to accommodate a greater number of animals had fallen off due to budget cuts. Ends