"The Office of the President regrets to inform that due to the discovery of a positive Covid-19 test result last night (Wednesday) on one of the officials closely serving His Excellency the President Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, the usual Covid-19 precautionary protocols have been activated, resulting in the immediate self-quarantine of his excellency the president and some of his inner circle of officials," spokesperson Andrew Sesinyi said in a statement.

This is the fourth time Masisi has gone into self-isolation in five months. The first time was on March 21 after he attended the inauguration of Namibian President Hage Geingob in Windhoek. 

The second instance came on April 9 when he and other parliamentarians were ordered to go into quarantine after a nurse, who was assisting at a special sitting of parliament to debate the extension of the state of emergency to six months, tested positive for Covid-19.

The third time was when he attended a Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, on May 19.

Botswana has so far recorded 227 Covid-19 infection cases, with one death and 28 recoveries. In an attempt to curb the spread of Covid-19, Botswana has introduced testing at border points.

Co-ordinator of the presidential task force on Covid-19, Dr Kereng Masupu, said testing at the border points was an important public health measure that had assisted in identifying more than 80% of diagnosed cases in Botswana.

"These cases would otherwise have come into the country undetected," he said on Monday, responding to suggestions that Covid-19 at border points has resulted in the shortage of fuel in the country.

In a statement, he explained that the delay in facilitating the movement of essential service transporters was due to system problems caused by clearing agents and was not the result of testing for Covid-19.

Botswana has recently experienced a fuel shortage, forcing the government to tap into its strategic stocks.

African News Agency (ANA)