353 QUARANTINED BY WEDNESDAY
About 353 Batswana returning from South Africa were on Wednesday night quarantined at IDM, IHS and Sir Ketumile Masire Hospital for 14 days.
The unsuspecting returning residents were all intercepted at the Tlokweng border post and taken to quarantine centres in government mini buses amid scenes of visible fear, disbelief and panic.
Speaking in an interview, Officer in Charge at Port Health Clinic, Obakeng Kgosiethata, said the drastic decision to quarantine returning residents was taken by cabinet on Monday night after considering the rapidly rising number of new Novel Coronavirus infections in South Africa.
However, Kgosiethata explained that the restrictions do not apply to drivers delivering essential goods and commodities such as food, fuel as well as medical and agricultural supplies.
“We explained the new development and screened the arriving residents for symptoms. Those who showed symptoms of coronavirus infection were taken to Sir Ketumile Masire Hospital while the rest were quarantined at IDM,” said Kgosiethata, who went on to urge people to avoid travel to South Africa during this terrible time.
Meanwhile, Safari Distributors General Manager, Warren Nolan, who was at the border to assure his truck drivers that they were exempted from the mandatory isolation imposed on residents, said, “There was confusion after some border officials wrongly advised my drivers that they were going to be quarantined if they crossed over, so I had to seek clarity on the matter.”
The distributor further explained that they would not be allowed to bring in personal care items and hygiene products after Thursday, for 21 days.
“To what extent do you limit the list of personal care products? You need sanitary towels, shower gel, and soap, but they are not on the list of allowed imports. As a large distributor, I carry six weeks’ worth of stock in my warehouse and the way consumers are currently responding, stock is likely to be cleared in three weeks. There is a lot of panic buying and I might find myself out of personal care products stock,” said Nolan.
At the time of going to print, some returning residents were moved to Masa Square Hotel, Grand Aria Hotel and Travel Lodge in Block 3.