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Botswana President, Lawmakers End Quarantine After Testing Negative for Coronavirus


FILE - Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi.
FILE - Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi.

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi and all the country's lawmakers completed a two-week quarantine Thursday after testing negative for the new coronavirus.

A top government official said each one voluntarily went into home quarantine after a health worker screening the lawmakers for the virus tested positive.

However, some lawmakers did not fully comply with the self-isolation measures and had to be moved into supervised quarantine.

Botswana has been under lockdown to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which officials say has infected 22 people and claimed the life of one person.

Meantime, Masisi fired the health ministry's top civil servant and his deputy, but it’s unclear if the dismissals are tied to Botswana's COVID-19 response. Masisi offered no explanation for removing them.

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