COVID-19 spike forces Botswana captial, Gaborone, into another lockdown

The capital city of Botswana, Gaborone, has been locked down again after a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.

Malaki Tshipayagae, the country’s director of health services, said in a televised announcement that officials had recorded four new imported cases at its borders and eight at a private hospital in Gaborone, bringing cumulative cases to 60.

“We are still to determine whether the hospital cases are local transmissions,” Tshipayagae said. “From midnight today the greater Gaborone area will revert to extreme social distancing until further notice, where only essential services will be allowed to operate.”

Before the 12 were announced, Botswana only had one active case of the coronavirus.

Diamond-rich Botswana ended a 48-day national coronavirus lockdown late last month, but its borders are still closed apart from for returning citizens and imports of essential goods.

It has recorded only one Covid-19 death.

African News