The reality of the deadliness of Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) has hit home. For the past few months, large numbers of COVID-19 positive cases and deaths have been the order of each day in Botswana.
According to the statistics released by the COVID-19 Presidential Task Force, from the 30th July to the 2nd of August, more than Fifty (50) people in Botswana have succumbed to the virus. Over eight hundred positive cases have been recorded for the same period. Prior to that, more than eighty (80) deaths, and close to five thousand 5000) positive cases were confirmed.
In view of this sorry state Botswana finds herself in, China and UNFPA have made a donation meant to protect health workers. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide.
The US$60,000 PPE includes 1,900 isolation gowns, 20 boxes of examination gloves, 40 boxes of surgical gloves, 40 boxes of surgical masks, 1,650 goggles, 1,980 face shields and 1,900 coveralls, which will be used to protect frontline workers amid the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Acknowledging the donation, Dikoloti says “The donation could not have come at a better time than now when the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic is higher, in the process stretching our health facilities and resources to the limit. Our front liners have never been this strained and overwhelmed.”
For his part, Ambassador H.E. Wang Xuefeng said when handing over a batch of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), “”I’ d like to take this opportunity to extend my deepest respect and heartfelt thanks to all the brave medical workers who have been risking their own lives to save the lives of others in the battle against the coronavirus,”
