25 Jan 2021

Kgalagadi District Health Management Team acting district coordinator, Ms Gaboelwe Rammekwa had called on the public to be cautious in order to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases which have escalated over festive season.

In an interview on January 22, she said so far Kgalagadi  South had recorded 98 cumulative number of COVID-19 cases of which 25 were active. Findings reflected that most of the cases were contacts of local index cases which demonstrated that there were an increase in local virus transmissions, she explained.

Ms Rammekwa further noted numbers from COVID-19  data base reflected that cases  had tripled during the festive season despite precautionary measures put in place.

She said the first recorded case in Kgalagadi South was in August 2020 of a patient who had travelled to Princess Marina Hospital to access health services.

By December 15, Ms Rammekwa said there were 28 recorded COVID-19 cases in the district.

She said the virus transmission spread fast during festive season as evidenced by the increased statistics as of January 18.

 The cases, she said had increased by 70 patients which meant that the numbers tripled in just one month. Fortunately, Ms Rammekwa said so far the district had not recorded any death.

Of the current 25 active cases, she said 17 were from Tsabong, three were from Gakhibana, one case was from Middlepits, one from Bokspits, while three of the cases were from Khawa. The acting DHMT coordinator highlighted that two of the 17 cases in Tsabong were prisoners.  It was not yet certain where the two inmates got the virus from, she said adding that all prison wardens and inmates had been tested and were awaiting results.

Ms Rammekwa stated that during last week alone DHMT sent over 400 specimens for testing in Gaborone, which she said was an indication that there was a serious challenge of resources.

The local COVID-19 data base, she said reflected that majority of index positive cases were government employees who had travelled.

Ms Rammekwa called on travelling employees to take the lead in fighting the pandemic as local statistics showed that the virus was dominant among the workforce who had a history of travelling to Gaborone.

She said so far, there were eight patients in isolation facilities at Nhake and Mandela wards in Tsabong while the rest were on home isolation due to lack of space in isolation facilities. The facilities, she said, were houses which had been borrowed from government departments to be used as isolation centres.

She said the district was faced with shortage of resources as some of the patients were recommended for home isolation after necessary assessments were done. She expressed concern that patients on home isolation failed to follow home isolation protocols hence the virus continued to spread.

She said plans were underway to increase the number of isolation facilities and to get necessary equipment to keep up with increasing COVID-19 cases.

The DHMT acting coordinator also said there were shortage of health personnel and transport which made it difficult to attend to patients on home isolation as frequently as they should.

She was worried that the absence of equipment such ventilators and intensive care units in Kgalagadi district was an impediment to their work.

She advised patients to refrain from visiting each other and adapt to the new normal.

She said public education was done but some people continued to flout COVID-19 health protocols defeating government efforts. Thus, she encouraged every individual to take responsibility, stay home and use technology to check on friends and relatives. She emphasised that it was upon every individual to take lead and wear a mask at all times, wash hands, sanitise and observe social distancing.

Meanwhile a recovered patient based in Tsabong warned that the virus was dangerous.

The 36-year-old Ms Martha Dejee said in an interview with BOPA that she tested positive in December after experiencing shortness of breath.

Although she said she was not aware of where she might have contracted the virus, Ms Dejee explained that a week before the virus was detected in her she had travelled to Gaborone.

She suspected that she took lightly the health precaution of washing hands and sanitising.

Fortunately, she said, she experienced mild symptoms and she was isolated for 10 days and discharged after testing negative.

She warned people to refrain from taking COVID-19 lightly and advised them to follow health precautions to the latter to lessen chances of contracting the virus. ENDs