Botswana's Health Minister, Lems Kwape, has announced the country's first cases of coronavirus on Tuesday.
Mr Kwape said that the three cases were travellers who tested positive for the virus, adding that two of them from Thailand and the third one from the UK.
Following the announcement, President Mokgweetsi Masisi urged all citizens to maintain calm stating that the government has been preparing for the eventuality and had an action plan to keep people safe.
Botswana was among the few African countries yet to report coronavirus cases. Others include Lesotho, Comoros, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Burundi and São Tomé and Príncipe.
President Masisi urged citizens to follow safety measures that would be announced by the health authorities.
The government tweeted that the president would address the nation on Tuesday morning:
PRESIDENT MASISI TO ADDRESS THE NATION TOMORROW
— Botswana Government (@BWGovernment) March 30, 2020
"Fellow citizens, it is with a heavy heart that we’ve received the sad news from the Minister of Health and Wellness Hon. Dr. @Lems2 that we’ve had three (3) cases of #COVID19 confirmed in our country. pic.twitter.com/WokUIuESq3
