On the 31st of March the president of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi gave a speech and declared a State of Public Emergency for the purpose of taking appropriate and stringent measures to address the risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The president said that a 21-day State of Public Emergency would not be sufficient to employ the necessary measures to fight the pandemic. The State of Public Emergency would come into effect from Thursday, 2 April 2020 00:00 GMT+2 until Thursday, 30 April 2020 00:00 GMT+2.