18 Feb 2021

The ministry of health and wellness will open another COVID-19 isolation centre in Masunga. 

The 200-roomed centre will be located at Masunga Primary Hospital and will be specifically for critical patients.

Giving an update on the health status for the Greater Francistown region during the Tonota Sub-district Council meeting, head of the preventative services for the Francistown District Management Team (FDHMT), Dr Nkele Ndolumingu said currently the region had two isolation centres, one at Matsiloje Botswana Defence Force (BDF) and another one at Ntshe Clinic in Francistown.

He explained that the Matsiloje centre had a capacity of 300 clients and currently had 221 patients while Ntshe Clinic had a maximum capacity of 25 beds and was currently full.

Dr Ndolumingu said with the recent surge in the disease burden, it was expected that the number of clients would increase, hence plans to open a third centre.

He explained that as for the Greater Francistown, a total of 2 033 cumulative cases had been recorded with 656 active cases, 1 354 recoveries, 20 deaths while three were repatriated.  

As for Tonota, he explained that the sub-district had recorded a total of 350 cumulative cases with 125 active while 157 had recovered. 

He said 11 patients were repatriated while six deaths were recorded.

On other issues, Dr Ndolumingu briefed councillors on the recent detected cases of COVID-19 at Tonota College of Education, saying over 300 individuals had been tested, resulting in 41 cases identified in the facility. The testing continues, he said.

Dr Ndolumingu explained that it was a worrying development that Greater Francistown District Health Management Team (GFDHMT) was addressing as a matter of urgency and appealed to councillors to assist in information dissemination on COVID-19 issues in their respective villages.  

He also told councillors that the Ministry of Health and Wellness continued to test people for COVID-19 through antigen test, with PCR test reserved for special cases.

Meanwhile, Health Specialists from GFDHMT, Dr Gotsileene Monamodi explained that their investigations had revealed that compliance with COVID-19 protocols at Tonota College of Education was a problem.

He said there were reports that people at the school and elsewhere in the village continued to defy COVID-19 protocols, chiefly not adhering to social distancing, saying COVID-19, like any other chronic disease such as HIV/AIDS, needed an inter-sectoral cooperation to cut the transmission chain. 

Dr Monamodi further indicated that government was currently footing the bill for those in isolation centres, adding that it was becoming heavier for government as the pandemic was on an upward trend. 

He also told councillors that foreigners were also being tested for COVID-19 to keep the country going.

The councillors welcomed the update and pledged to assist in the fight against the spread of the virus. ends