Botswana’s daily infection rate has remained at 120 cases per day according to the latest up-date by the COVID-19 Task Force.
Addressing the nation on the latest COVID-19 news Deputy Coordinator Mosepele Mosepele said the country had recorded 360 new cases since the last update on Monday October 19, 2020.
Botswana recorded 360 cases between October 20 and 22, accounting for 120 cases per day. As was the case with the last update, a significant majority of cases were recorded locally while the rest were recorded at ports of entry. Of the 360 cases recorded, 352 were residents while eight were cross border truck drivers.
The previous update had indicated the country recorded 367 cases in three days between October 14 and 16, 2020. Of all the cases border gates only recorded 7 with 360 being local transmissions. The total number of recorded cases in Botswana stood at 5,609.
In his latest report Mosepele said the total number of recorded citizen cases in Botswana stood at 4,930 with 471 active cases. The total number of recoveries was 4,438 while the fatality rate remained at 21 cases. Of the 21 people who succumbed to COVID-19, the youngest was a three month old baby while the eldest was 90. Most of the patients who died from the virus, Mosepele said, were over the age of 60. He said it was everyone’s responsibility to ensure they protect the vulnerable elders from possible infection by adhering to coronavirus protocols.
Mosepele said in his previous update that Gaborone remains the epicenter of Botswana’s COVID-19 infections, accounting for at least 85 percent of cases. Lobatse, Mochudi, Molepolole, Kanye are some of the most affected places. He called on residents to take more responsibility in curbing the spread of the virus. Local transmissions are now at their highest. Mosepele said more needs to be done to flatten the curve. It is not clear if the latest numbers, indicating a steady record of daily infection rate, represents the flattening of the curve.
Mosepele said every region in the country has recorded cases of the virus. President Mokgweetsi Masisi recently warned about the surge in Botswana’s COVID-19 infections. “It is regrettable that we have of late experienced an exponential rise in local transmissions after the lifting of movement restrictions on 22nd May 2020, mainly, in the Greater Gaborone Zone. Particularly disturbing, is that from July to August 2020, the number of local transmission cases surpassed the number of imported ones,” Masisi told Parliament recently.
He said COVID-19 had become a national health and security threat. He said more than ever, it has become necessary to strengthen Botswana’s response to the pandemic given the country’s fragile and limited resources. “As you will recall, the first case of COVID-19 in Botswana was recorded on 31st March 2020. From the 2nd April to 21st July, 2020, Botswana registered a total of One Hundred and Thirteen (113) cases and only one death. However, between 23rd July and 27th September 2020, we registered One Thousand, Nine Hundred and Sixty Eight (1968) positive cases and sixteen (16) deaths, cumulatively,” the President said.
