Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi on Thursday went into a 14-day self-isolation after an employee in the presidential office was confirmed to be COVID-19 positive, the president’s office confirmed in a statement, reported Anadolu Agency.
“The Office of the President regrets to inform that due to the discovery of a positive COVID-19 test result last night on one of the officials closely serving His Excellency, President Mokgweetsi Masisi, the COVID-19 precautionary protocols have been activated resulting in the immediate self-quarantine,” Andrew Sesinyi, the government communications’ permanent secretary, said in a statement.
Some other people in the president’s inner circle are also self-isolating as a precautionary measure to curb the spread and transmission of the disease caused by the highly virulent coronavirus, the statement added.
The Botswana government has appealed the people to continue taking necessary precautions including using masks, social distancing, washing of hands with water and soap, using hand sanitizer where possible to prevent the spread of the virus.
Notably, this is the fourth time Masisi is quarantining since the registration of the first confirmed case of the deadly pandemic in the southern African country on March 30, 2020. The wholes parliament was quarantined at a point when a health worker tested positive there.
Botswana, which has a population of approximately 2.2 million, has so far registered 227 cases, with one fatality from the disease. The government imposed a countrywide lockdown from beginning of April until end of May and only opened up fully at the beginning of June, allowing businesses and schools to reopen under controls. As a precautionary measure, the ban on the entry of foreign visitors into the country continues to remain in place.
According to a Reuters tally based on government statistics and WHO data, Africa has so far reported 416,063 confirmed coronavirus cases with 10,297 deaths, while 196,944 patients have recovered from the deadly virus.
