By CGTN Africa
Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has tested positive for COVID-19, the government announced in a statement on Monday.
“The president does not have any symptoms and will continue to receive close medical monitoring by his medical doctors,” John-Thomas Dipowe, acting permanent secretary for Government Communications, said in the statement.
While Masisi is in isolation, Vice President Slumber Tsogwane will assume the president’s responsibilities until further notice.
COVID-19 infections have risen sharply in the diamond-rich Southern African country since the detection of the Omicron variant late last year, to an average of 2,500 every three days from under 300 over the same period before Omicron.
But health officials say hospitalizations have not spiked.
Botswana has managed to fully vaccinate 71 percent of its eligible population of around 1.3 million people.
