12 Oct 2020

The rate at which transmission of coronavirus continues to increase in Lobatse and villages within its health management district is perturbing.

District Health Management Team (DHMT) COVID-19 rapid response team official, Ms Doreen Mofaladi, said the district had registered 238 positive COVID-19 cases in September alone.

“The number included 15 cases of pupils and one case of a teacher at Pitikwe Primary School as well as a positive case of a teacher at Itireleng Junior Secondary School,” Ms Mofaladi said on Wednesday, during closure of the Lobatse month of prayer against HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 pandemic.

She said the rate at which the virus was being transmitted in the community had reached worrying levels. 

“We now record around 10 positive cases per day,” she said.

She said they transferred 191 of the 238 positive cases for isolation at Sir Ketumile Masire Hospital in Gaborone, while 47 people who were asymptomatic were put in home isolation.

“Before we put people in home isolation, we usually make sure that they have their own spaces and would not get in contact with other family members,” she said.

She said they would soon open an isolation facility at the old teacher training college premises to address the issue of shortage of isolation space in the district.

Despite increase in new cases, Ms Mofaladi expressed satisfaction at improvement in the level of adherence by the business community and public transport industry to COVID-19 regulations.“We encountered challenges of non-compliance in the district at the beginning, but things have improved now and they adhere to social distancing and wearing of face masks in their businesses,” she said. ends