20 Dec 2020

An official from Greater Gaborone District Health Management Team (DHMT), Ms Direpang Segosebe has urged the society to be on the forefront in the fight against COVID-19 in order to defeat it.

Speaking during a Parents and Teachers Association workshop on COVID-19 issues in Gaborone recently, she said the society should lead health professionals in the fight against the virus and come up with strategies as well as approaches as this would help in the creation of tailor-made services.

Ms Segosebe explained that since most of the COVID-19 confirmed cases were reported in Greater Gaborone, they found it fit to host workshops around the schools in the Gaborone West cluster with the aim to sensitise parents and community leaders about the virus and most importantly to give them an opportunity to interrogate the virus.

She further highlighted that another vital objective of the workshop was to clear misconceptions on the myths, stigma and fears associated with the virus.

Ms Segosebe observed that some students, despite the constant dissemination of information about the virus, still had the misconception that COVID-19 only affected the elderly with underlying health conditions.

This misunderstanding, she stressed, was misleading.

Ms Segosebe was hopeful that in the end, more districts around the country would benchmark and implement their own workshops of such a nature as health issues were a constant concern.

Meanwhile, DHMT health promotion and education coordinator, Ms Victoria Mooketsi appealed to the society to adhere COVID-19 health protocols stipulated by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.  

“We have observed that complacency is still very high among the public as indicated by the constant rise in positive cases.

Imagine in March we only had one COVID-19 case, but currently the positive cases have risen to more than 11 000, which is very disheartening,” she said. ends