Botswana Tightens COVID-19 Restrictions Amid Rising Death Toll   

GABORONE, BOTSWANA - Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, whose country has one of the world's highest COVID-19 infection rates per capita, has announced new COVID-19 restrictions, including extension of a nighttime curfew and postponement of the reopening of schools.

In a televised address, Masisi said the country was seeing an exponential increase in COVID-19 cases. "The disease burden is weighing heavily on us, with infections continuing to increase across the country, and precious lives being lost on a daily basis here at home and across the continent," Masisi said. "Our nation has attained the highest prevalence ever." By Friday, 1,973 people had died of COVID-19, with the death toll rising from about 300 in February.