Botswana officially ends COVID-19 public health emergency

Gaborone, Botswana | Xinhua | COVID-19 is no longer considered a public health emergency of international concern in Botswana, Christopher Nyanga, the spokesperson for Botswana’s Ministry of Health, announced in a statement Friday.

“Botswana had actually de-escalated COVID-19 response activities over the past six months and has reduced measures and protocols put in place to mitigate the spread of the disease,” said Nyanga.

This gradual deactivation of COVID-19 activities was guided by the continued risk assessments undertaken to guide the extent of the de-escalation, Nyanga said.

Mpho Pheto, an independent medical doctor based in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, told Xinhua in a separate interview that the determination means COVID-19 no longer requires a coordinated international response.

This comes against the backdrop of declining COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in Botswana and globally, according to Pheto.

On May 5, 2023, the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 will now be treated as an established and ongoing health issue, which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.