- Prof Mosepele says caseload could burden society
- Non-compliance with protocols to blame
RORISANG MOGOJWE
The COVID-19 Task Force (CTF) has expressed concern about the “astonishingly high” numbers of cases that continue to be recorded in the country.
In the latest update, the Deputy Coordinator of CTF, Professor Mosepele Mosepele,
said the inclusive four-day period of 8 to 11 June 2021, “we recorded an astonishingly high number of new COVID-19 cases at 1 111, almost a four-fold increase from the previous reporting period”.
The Coordinator continued: “This brought the total number of cases to 61 457 and we continue to see a high and increasing number of active cases at 3 730 cases which have been on the rise in the last few weeks.”
Non-compliance with COVID protocols, including the wearing of masks and reduced numbers at inevitable gatherings, have been fingered as causes of the dramatic rise in new infections.
“Those who have been declared recovered as they are no longer infectious stand at 56 798,” Dr Mosepele said. “As we reported last time, we continue to see a sustained increase
of COVID-related fatalities at 926 as of the 11th of June.”
Professor Mosepele said the surge in COVID related deaths is an indication that the COVID-19 case load has increased and could burden society. He added that the Greater Gaborone zone remains the hub of the disease, which means it carries the highest burden of the disease.
Botswana has administered at least 150,749 doses of COVID vaccines so far. According to the Reuters COVID-19 tracker, assuming that every person needs two doses, this is amounts to a mere 3% of the country’s population inoculated.
In the update, Dr Mosepele also revealed that infections among young people aged between 10 and 20 years have gone up. While he admitted that the team cannot state why
infections have gone up among these young people, videos and audio recordings circulating on social media indicate that students may be contracting COVID-19 on purpose, the aim being to miss school and go on isolation.
Professor Mosepele said the team could not confirm this disturbing phenomenon without any investigation conducted and that the rising infections among the young could also be
attributed to the virus mutating.
The total local COVID-19 case load in Botswana has gone up to 61 457, with 56 798 recoveries while number of active cases stands at 3730.