09 Nov 2020

Health and wellness minister, Dr Edwin Dikoloti, says lifting of international travel restrictions is intended to stimulate economic activities.  

Updating the nation on November 8 on his ministry’s preparedness after government approved lifting of restrictions on international travel effective November 9, Dr Dikoloti said the decision to resume international travel was in part informed by measures that were determinants of holistic health outcome of individuals, communities and the population at large.

He said the opening for movement would resume in a phased manner, starting with the opening of three major airports of Sir Seretse Khama, Kasane and Maun.  

“On December 1, 2020, ground crossing, international movement will resume at commercial border points and air travel through Phillip G. Matante International Airport in Francistown,” he said.

Dr Dikoloti said entry would only be allowed to travelers with COVID-19 negative results with a validity period of 72 hours from the day of departure.

He added that those travelling out of the country would also be tested prior to departure.

In the short term, Dr Dikoloti said the ministry was investing on recruitment of skilled manpower in areas supporting the response to lifting of travel restrictions.

He said laboratory services had been expanded across the country with anticipation to process up to 10 000 samples per day.

 In addition, he said collaboration with the private sector was pursued to improve access to testing facilities.

“The ministry will also introduce rapid testing in this phase to accelerate testing and turnaround time for results and appropriate public health interventions within the communities,” said Dr Dikoloti.

As a long term solution, Dr Dikoloti said his ministry was working with other partners to set up the Botswana Public Health Institute (BPHI) for a more focused and robust response to public health emergencies.

Dr Dikoloti noted that the COVID – 19 pandemic has affected countries and individuals differently.

“We witnessed economic challenges, individual job insecurity, disruption of social and leisure activities which affect the psycho-social wellbeing, including mental health of individuals and communities,” he said.

The minister said other services, including healthcare delivery were disrupted resulting in a regression of health outcomes.

Dr Dikoloti added that the lifting of travel restrictions would not be easy on the health sector and therefore appealed to the community to limit non-essential travel and take full responsibility of individual health and that of the nation at large.  

He further appealed to the nation to be cautious as resuming international travel would result in inherent risk exposure.

As a result of international travel, Dr Dikoloti said there was potential risk of importation and exportation of cases.

Minister Dikoloti said the country was entering the second phase of COVID-19 control. He said the initial stage was defined by protecting lives and communities against the spread of the disease locally and that in certain cases achieving the desired outcome which required legislative measures.

He said the second stage for the control of the disease would be marked by social responsibility and accountability. ENDS