The Prime Minister Dr Moeketsi Majoro says Lesotho will never be the same again after novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and urged his newly assembled cabinet to uphold integrity and ethics in order to regain the nation’s trust.
The PM said this on state media on Thursday, when underlining government’s willingness to undertake activities meant to curb the spread of the disease locally.
However, he said he is aware that through different communication platforms particularly social media, the nation no longer trusts politicians, and called on his cabinet ministers to introspect and selflessly deliver to all.
Majoro disclosed that he had appointed a team of six ministers who have been tasked with coming up with a two-year resilience and/or recovery plan to ensure the country progresses even in the face of the Covid-19 adversity.
He empasised the importance of food production, saying Covid-19 is forcing Lesotho and other countries of the world to reshape efforts and strategies towards the disease.
“We must produce more food as failure to do so means more and more will continue to be hungry,” he said.
So far, Lesotho has registered two Covid-19 cases, with one presently recovering, and the National Emergency Command Center (NECC) continues to appeal to the nation to take all necessary precautionary measures against the disease.
Meanwhile World Health Organisation (WHO) representative Lesotho, Dr Richard Banda has congratulated the Basotho nation for registering one Covid-19 recovery case this week.
Dr Banda is adamant, through joint efforts, Lesotho can win the war against Covid-19. However, he is also certain Basotho know by now through experiences from other countries that the virus has proved beyond reasonable doubt it exists and kills.
As such, he strongly appealed to the nation to ensure all WHO precautionary measures such as washing hands with soap regularly as well as observing social distancing protocols, to mention a few.
In another development, reports from the ministry of health suggest one of the two patients has been cleared and it remains to be seen what will happen with the one patient remaining.
WHO is a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) in charge for international public health. The agency is mandated to ensure promotion of advocacy in issues of universal healthcare, observing public health emergencies, encouraging human health and wellbeing.