Botswana denies cases of confirmed Coronavirus

 

By allAfrica.com

Botswana Ministry of Health says it had noted with concern the misleading information circulating on social media, particularly Facebook and WhatsApp, about Coronavirus situation in the country.

The Ministry says the country has not reported any confirmed cases of coronavirus but rather acknowledged of five suspected.

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The Ministry urges social media users to always check the source of their material to avoid circulating misleading and distressing information.

The Ministry says it is continuing to monitor the situation closely in consultation with the World Health Organization (WHO) and assures the nation that new information on coronavirus will be communicated as and when it is available.

Flag of Seychelles

Meanwhile, starting Monday, all flights to Seychelles will not be allowed to board passengers or crew who have been to China in the last 14 days in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus, a top health official in the island nation said.

The new advisory also applies to any person arriving in Seychelles by sea.

The Ministry of Health said only returning Seychellois residents coming from China will be allowed in the island nation.

Protective measures are being done in China

Jude Gedeon, Public Health Commissioner, told a news conference on Friday that airlines have been given three days to relay the information to their clients.

“When deciding on this new advisory, we opted on three days as we felt it would be enough time to relay this information to all the airlines and also to make the necessary changes required,” said Gedeon.

Officials in Seychelles late last month started to monitor arriving passengers from China to prevent the introduction and spread of the novel coronavirus in Seychelles.

Special hospital Coronavirus has been built in
China

Gedeon said that local authorities took heed that other countries were cancelling direct flights to China but as Seychelles does not have direct flights to the Asian country, it decided to have an open advisory which targets all incoming airlines.

He added that airlines were notified through their associations and chairpersons directly, to ensure this information was communicated accordingly.

There are a dozen airlines flying to Seychelles weekly and Gedeon stressed that they need to follow this advisory.

“In the event that they do board a passenger who has been in China in the last 14 days, the passenger will not be allowed to disembark in Seychelles and the airline will be responsible to return with the passenger,” he added.