Limpho Sello
HEALTH minister Motlatsi Maqelepo is unsure when Lesotho will finally have its own facilities for testing suspected cases of the deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19) disease.
He said construction of a testing facility was underway in Maseru and upon completion, it would still have to be fitted with the necessary equipment.
He said as a result, he could not say when the facility would be in place to reduce dependence on South Africa which currently tests all suspected cases on behalf of Lesotho.
The newly appointed minister’s admission flies in the face of a claim by his predecessor Nkaku Kabi that Lesotho was only days away from beginning tests at its own facilities.
Three weeks ago Mr Kabi, who has since been moved to the Water ministry, said that construction of a testing facility was almost complete and thereafter the government would begin mass testing in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations on fighting Covid-19.
So far, the country has recorded two Covid-19 infections but in the absence of mass testing, there are no guarantees on the accuracy of the official figures.
And it is unlikely that Lesotho will begin to roll out mass tests anytime soon as the Health minister is not sure when the first testing facility will be up and running.
He said upon his appointment he asked some staffers in his ministry for an honest update on the progress in the setting up of a testing laboratory.
“So, I must admit that sometimes what the public are told is not the reality of what we are faced with as a ministry,” Mr Maqelepo told the Sunday Express on Friday.
“We ought to have our own testing centre in the country and I have been told that construction is under way. But I don’t want to commit myself on the time when we will start testing locally. If things go as planned the facility could be ready in two weeks’ time,” he added.
Like Mr Kabi and former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane before him, Mr Maqelepo appealed to Lesotho nationals who cross into the country illegally from South Africa to present themselves to the authorities for screening to avoid spreading the virus.
South Africa is the worst affected on the continent and the second case recorded in Lesotho a fortnight ago was that of a national who had illegally crossed back from South Africa.