25 Aug 2021

Jwaneng District, one of the hardest hit areas in the country continues to experience a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in various work places and the community. 

Updating the Jwaneng full council session on the COVID 19 situation in the area, deputy district commissioner, Mr Odiseng Moruti indicated that as at August 22, the district had registered a cumulative of 6 384 cases of which 6 052 had already recovered while 285 were active. 

Mr Moruti said that 180 cases were on home isolation while 1 395 were on quarantine after being identified through contact tracing, three being expectant mothers while 45 were children under five years of age. 

He also indicated that the district lost 74 individuals to the pandemic, 44 of whom died in the isolation facility in Jwaneng and 30 died at referral hospitals. 

Mr Moruti indicated that in an effort to relief Ditsweletse Clinic, which was the only isolation facility in the area, the Southern District Health Management Team (DHMT), was planning to open three more isolation centres in Mabutsane, Moshupa and Kanye. 

He also said because of the national burden on the health facilities, the Ministry of Health and Wellness was in the process of strengthening home isolations so that more people could be taken care of at home. 

On covid-19 protocols violations, Mr Moruti said Jwaneng police had so far collected P76 000 from those charged. 

The offenses ranged from failure to wear a mask, unlawful gathering, and failure to remain confined during curfew times. 

“Our shopping areas continue to be hotspots for violation of protocols and as a remedy, the police will intensify patrols in those areas,” he said. 

Being a a high cost mining town accommodation is expensive and hard to find in Jwaneng and many people in Jwaneng tend to share houses in large numbers, what locals have termed ‘Big Brother Houses’, and which DHMT acting head, Ms Goitsemang Mothibi said posed a challenge. 

She said the DHMT had consequently resorted to admitting occupants of big brother houses at Majwe camp rather than placing them on home isolation whenever they tested positive for COVID- 19. 

She said that they were also short staffed to implement home isolation visits, as was initially the case when the numbers were still manageable. 

Ms Mothibi was responding to councillor Mr Tshokodiso Lesetedi’s complaint that big brother houses were hotspots in town as the virus could easily be transmitted between occupants, and that because of the congestion, it was not easy for them to self-isolate or quarantine. 

 For her part, Jwaneng mayor, Ms Olga Ditsie said the statistics were shocking for a small town. 

“This ordinarily calls for concerted efforts and everybody’s input in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic has overstretched all resources in our health facilities and shortage of doctors remains a challenge,” she said. 

Ms Ditsie stated that they recently lost three doctors to contract elapse and further studies. 

She therefore, appealed to councillors to encourage people to vaccinate to reduce chances of getting seriously ill, hospitalised or even dying from COVID-19. ENDS