Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi In Self-Quarantine After Namibia Visit

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi has gone into self-quarantine for 14 days after returning from a trip to neighboring Namibia, the presidency announced in a statement on Sunday, reported Africa News.

Masisi went to Namibia on Saturday to attend a meeting with other regional heads of state to discuss measures undertaken by countries bordering Botswana to fight the global coronavirus outbreak. Other African leaders who attended the inauguration include Joao Lourenco of Angola and Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa.

“The rationale for the imposition of self-isolation is that while Namibia has registered three imported cases and is considered low risk for SARS-CoV-2 transmission at the time of His Excellency the President’s trip to Namibia, the low testing rates in the region make that determination difficult and there is a high possibility of undetermined local transmission,” the statement said.

According to Masisi’s office, the latest quarantine measures have been taken to protect the president those in his entourage and everyone else.

The official statement further stated that the president will be tested for the novel coronavirus before being cleared. He will be working from his official residence but would be quarantined away from his family. The Director of Health Services has imposed the same impositions on the rest of the entourage that traveled with the President to Namibia.

The novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, originated in Wuhan, China in December last year and has since then spread to at least 169 countries and regions, according to data compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

There are more than 336,000 confirmed cases globally, with the death toll over 14,600. More than 98,000 have recovered from the virus.

Until now, 43 African countries have recorded coronavirus cases with over 30 deaths and 122 recoveries. Botswana is among the four countries in the region with no coronavirus case reported as yet. Comoros, Malawi, and Lesotho are the other three countries with no coronavirus case.