Ngami District Health Management Team (DHMT) has confirmed one suspected case of COVID-19 in one of the camps at the Okavango Delta.
Briefing councillors in Maun on March 10, an official from DHMT, Dr Sandra Maripe, said samples taken from the 75-year-old American woman who was showing signs of being unwell has since been taken to the laboratory for further tests.
She said the woman had also been self-quarantined.
The woman, who is a tourist, travelled from Italy via Cape Town, South Africa to the Okavango Delta.
Dr Maripe informed councillors that the testing was done in South Africa.
She explained that Matshwane Clinic was set aside as an isolation centre. She stated that all tourists coming to Botswana were taken through the screening process.
The deputy council chairperson, Mr Lekone Masoko, thanked the DHMT for allaying fears noting that the rumours were causing confusion among the communities and appreciated that fellow councillors would now be in a position to relay the correct information to the public.
Specially elected councillor, Brigadier Letsogile Motsumi, thanked DHMT for sharing the information and wished the health officials could appraise Batswana about provinces which had been affected in South Africa.
He said by knowing the provinces, Batswana could avoid going to the affected areas.
Brig. Motsumi also called on health officials not to focus on the major port of entry only, adding that they should also consider small ports of entry citing Dobe in the Ngamiland District as one of them.
He expressed wish that all ports of entry could be equipped with enhanced public health services to tackle the virus.
The council chairperson, Mr Kebareeditse Ntsogotlho, said DHMT was on its toes due to the threat posed by COVID-19.
He said measures were in place to safeguard the district against the disease included the screening of all international arrivals at the ports of entry.
He said to date, a total of 2 531 visitors in the district had been screened of which 371 were from the affected areas and were cleared to enter.
He said Matshwane Clinic and Eye Clinic at Gumare Primary hospital were set aside as isolation centres while mini holding sites had been identified at both the airport and Letsholathebe Memorial hospital accident and emergency room.
Mr Ntsogotlho noted that the district had also activated the public health emergency and rapid response teams.
He advised the public to follow simple hygiene practices to protect themselves by avoiding close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory disease, frequent hand wash with soap while people with respiratory disease were encouraged to practice cough etiquette.
