Botswana’s president, parliamentarians to be quarantined

Botswana president Mokgweetsi Masisi and 63 parliamentarians will go into self-isolation for 14 days after they were exposed to a COVID-19 positive nurse who was assigned to do screening of the legislators on Wednesday.
   

During the special parliament on Thursday to debate the extension of Botswana's state of emergency to six months, minister of health and wellness Lemogang Kwape informed his colleagues that the landlocked country has seven more confirmed cases of COVID-19. This brings the total number to 13.
   

Kwape also informed parliament that some legislators on Wednesday interacted with a health worker who tested positive. Thereafter, the director of health services Malaki Tshipayagae recommended that everyone be quarantined.
   

"Everyone who was here has to undergo mandatory quarantine from here," Tshipayagae said.
   

This is the second time that Masisi has been quarantined in less than a month.
   

On March 21, he was forced into self-isolation after a visit to neighbouring Namibia, which had cases of COVID-19 to attend to the inauguration of president Hage Geingob. He was placed on self-isolation for a period of 14 days following his Namibian trip. (Xinhua)