28 Sep 2020

Acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr Mareko Ramotsababa says the situation of trucks queuing for a long time at the Kazungula Weighbridge as a result of COVID-19 tests was under control.

In an interview during a visit by the COVID-19 presidential task team to Kasane on September 26, he said previously there was a challenge of trucks waiting for a long period at the weighbridge.

He said currently there were two testing machines for the Chobe Regional Health Management Team (RHMT) and the turnaround time for the release of results was 24 hours.

Dr Ramotsababa said in an effort to fast track the turnaround time one of the buildings at the weighbridge was being refurbished to accommodate the third machine. He said after the installation of the third machine the turnaround time would be reduced.

A Ministry of Health and Wellness senior biological engineer, who is responsible for the installation of the machine, Mr Joshua Tim explained that the machine which extracted Ribonucleic acid (RNA) for COVID-19 was the fourth one in the country and was reliable.

He said it would the augment existing two machines in Chobe to increase the testing capacity. He, however, said one of the challenges faced in the testing process was power cuts. Mr Tim, however, said as a mitigation measure uninterruptible power supply has been installed.

He noted that currently Chobe RHMT received 100 COVID-19 samples.

The task team also visited the Mamumo Border Post and Maun. ENDS