Botswana health authorities on Tuesday said the country was likely to enter its fifth wave of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as the number of cases has been on the rise.

Pamela Smith-Lawrence, health services director in Botswana’s Ministry of Health, revealed this when appearing before the southern African country’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana.

“The country was seemingly entering a fifth wave,” Ms Smith-Lawrence stated to the PAC, the body made up of Botswana’s legislators, as a measure to ensure public financial accountability.

Grace Muzila, the permanent secretary of Botswana’s Ministry of Health, also told the PAC that health authorities were seriously concerned about the number of cases and admissions in recent weeks.

The Ministry of Health said 635 new cases were reported from May 22 to May 25 with 2 deaths. As of May 31, Botswana has reported 30,126 cases.

The latest figures indicate that the rate for fully vaccinated people has been stagnant at 62 per cent for some time now while for boosters it was still less than 40 per cent.

(Xinhua/NAN)