Own Correspondent
20 August 2021
Although Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital has been transformed into a COVID-19 treatment centre, this has still not stabilized the growing public health crises in Botswana.
The hospital could only admit 450 people, while those requiring isolation and quarantine were in their thousands. The cash strapped Ministry of Health and Wellness has already spent a total of BWP 256,720,725 in support of both quarantine and isolation facilities.
This figure does not reflect other expenditures on associated costs like contact tracing and engagement of temporary personnel.
“I wish to state that while the initial strategy of quarantining and isolating people in private facilities was costly and expensive, it was necessary to do so at the time, although it came at a huge cost to the taxpayer. It allowed us to study and monitor the disease at close range so that we grow our knowledge about it,” said Dr Edwin G. Dikoloti, Ministry of Health and Wellness.
He said, “That has been achieved. We know more about the disease now, than we did then. This knowledge helps us manage the disease better, now than we could at the time. However, the approach used then, as alluded to earlier, is no longer sustainable.”
Officials records show that as of 10 August 2021, a total of 18 793 people were in home Isolation while 28 013 were confined to home quarantine. According to official sources the total national permanent bed occupancy for facility based isolation on 10 August 2021 was at 5%. This signifies a significant reduction is using facility-based care for isolation which on 6th July 2021 was at 60%.
Government also created bed space at public facilities for those who may not be very critical but were still unable to be quarantined or isolated at home. To date, a total of 932 bed space capacity within our existing public facilities has been created across the country.
The Government of Botswana had also introduced immediate mandatory quarantine for all those who were arriving in the country from other countries. This quarantining was initially to take place in public places like educational institutions. Accommodation facilities in those educational institutions were used to accommodate multitudes of Batswana and residents arriving from other countries where they studied or worked. However, as many of you know now, a court case against quarantine in the said places, was instituted by some decrying the conditions in those facilities.
The court ruled in the litigants’ favour and Government started quarantining people in various private accommodation facilities. Although some private accommodation facilities initially offered accommodation for free, this later changed.
According to officials when COVID-19 cases increased, those testing positive were also being isolated in private facilities. During those days, quarantine and isolation could run into weeks and some even months and all the expenses were borne by the state.
Botswana’s strategy to quarantine and isolate people at home required that it engage in aggressive public education and also increasing our testing pace. This meant more positive cases being unearthed leading to more people being identified for quarantine and isolation.
“We then adopted a strategy that is now known as the 80-80-80 strategy, where we targeted to have 80% of clients receiving their results within 24hrs; 80% of those testing positive isolated within 24hrs and lastly 80% of close contacts being quarantined within 24hrs. The more than 80% was to be quarantined and isolated at home, except those upon assessment by health authorities, were seen to require hospitalization or transfer to a different facility,” said . Dikoloti.
According to officials the time has now come for Botswana to reinvigorate community participation for the containment of COVID-19, driven by local structures and leadership. It involves urging all local leaders to take a leading role in encouraging people to abide by home quarantine and isolation guidelines. They should not mingle with people including family members during that period.
Dikoloti said, “They should remain at home until cleared by health authorities. Health care at home will be complemented with psychosocial support facilitated by my ministry. Some small packages including the dos and don’ts will be given to those on quarantine and isolation at home.”
Clients will through the help line, self-report and register within their locality, to be monitored while the care provider, using clinically available data, can trigger care to a house hold identified. The client can also trigger an emergency evacuation or consultation in the event of feeling unwell.
