25 May 2021

Maun Administrative Authority (MAA) chairperson, Mr Vepaune Moreti has expressed concern over illegal mushrooming of Early Childhood Care Education Centres as well as non-compliance to COVID-19 protocols in preschools.

Delivering a speech during the sub-council session on Monday, he said the number of day care centres under MAA stood at 48, but only 27 were fully licensed. 

The department of Social and Community Development, he said, had since been engaged in routine spot checks to identify illegally operating of centres.

In addition, he said the department was facilitating unlicensed centres for compliance to the Early Childhood Care Bye Laws and COVID-19 protocols. Mr Moreti also revealed that 7 682 inspections in the sub-district were carried out to assess compliance to COVID-19 protocols and other health standards.

The inspections, he said, covered 619 government institutions and non-governmental organisations, 6 675 trading premises and 388 schools. He said it was evident that compliance with the set protocols remained a challenge as social distancing and proper wearing of masks by the public were not observed.

The house also learnt that to date the District Health Management Team (DHMT) had registered 2 062 cases of COVID-19 with 164 active cases and 65 related deaths. Mr Moreti revealed that DHMT had 48 clients in home quarantine, 35 on facility based isolation and 127 on home isolation.

He also stated that 2 497 clients had been vaccinated with Astrazeneca between March 26 and April 12, adding that DHMT had also received Sinovac vaccine from the ministry of health on the May 10 and resumed vaccination the following day. 

Further, Mr Moreti noted that DHMT had now expanded vaccination sites from five to 33 including 61 mobile sites to reach out to all targeted populations, including settlements and cattle posts. In an effort to curb the pandemic, the house was informed that MAA had employed 248 temporary COVID-19 scorpions within its facilities at primary schools and dikgotla.

Mr Moreti explained that out of the said number, 151 were within Maun area and 97 in the outstations, adding that their appointment effected May 10. 

The personnel, he said, were mandated to observe that health protocols within facilities were adhered to at all times.

Still on health issues, Mr Moreti revealed that HIV testing had significantly reduced with the district attaining up to 48 per cent testing rate in the financial year 2020/21 as compared to over 90 per cent performance in the previous year.

He attributed the reduction to restricted movements due to the pandemic, noting that during the phase of COVID-19 response, there was reduced contact time and movement within communities. 

He also informed the house that Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programme uptake reached 96.6 per cent with two babies testing positive, translating to a mother to child transmission rate of 0.9 per cent.

Mr Moreti called fellow councilors to join hands in educating communities on the importance of early pregnancy registration and couple testing.

On other issues, he stated that to date, 114 cases  of gender based violence (GBV) cases had been registered in the sub-district, 56 of which were related to rape and defilement. 

“This is a disturbing trend and I therefore encourage all, starting from households to communities to preach the message of GBV,” he added. Ends