ABSA bank on Monday reported a suspected case of coronavirus to health authorities after a diplomat showed symptoms of the virus while visiting the bank.
An executive at Absa (known to this publication), said a diplomat visited one of their branches suspected to be showing symptoms of the much-feared coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Concerned, some employees responded by alerting the Ministry of Health and Wellness response team who responded 20 minutes after the customer had already left the bank.
An insider within the bank said bank attendants who assisted the customer were placed on immediate isolation as per the guidelines of the COVID-19 response protocols from the Ministry of Health and Wellness.
The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Lemogang Kwape, confirmed his ministry was investigating such a case during a telephone interview. He said the rapid response team was deployed to the scene as per their response protocol.
The incident is said to have sent shock waves across the bank’s entire executive board resulting in an urgent meeting at Headquarters on Tuesday.
Botswwna had no officially declared positive cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday this week.
There is uneasiness in Botswana as the number of confirmed cases of the virus in neighbouring South Africa grow by the day with 116 confirmed cases reported as of 18 March, 2020.
