Kaunda Selisho

By Kaunda Selisho

Journalist


Botswana’s parliament to possibly go into quarantine

This after finding out that all members recently came into contact with a nurse who has since tested positive for Covid-19. 


Botswana’s entire parliament might have to go into quarantine after finding out that all members recently came into contact with a nurse who had since tested positive for Covid-19.

According to the country’s health minister, Dr Lemogang Kwape, the country has seven new confirmed Covid-19 cases, which brings Botswana’s overall total of cases to 13.

Among the new cases is a nurse who was reportedly working at the country’s parliament on Wednesday, attending to all staff including support staff, the vice president and the president.

This fact was allegedly revealed to all MPs during a debate on the country’s state of emergency, which Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has proposed extending.

Masisi would like Botswana’s state of emergency to be extended to six months and says the measure is needed because people are not complying with restrictions on movement, which were imposed just last week.

Masisi was recently cleared to exit self-isolation at home after testing negative for coronavirus. He went into a 14-day self-quarantine on March 21 after a visit to neighbouring Namibia for an inauguration ceremony, which saw him breaching a ban on all external trips by public officers imposed by his own government to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Citizens of the country who watched the live broadcast of the debate have since called for all parliamentary business to be suspended if MPs were indeed exposed to the virus. Others believe that MPs were not taking the possibility of their exposure seriously enough.

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