Botswana has banned imports and sales of cigarettes and related products as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic, APA learned here Tuesday.
In a notice published in the Government Gazette, the Botswana government said the importation or sale of tobacco and related products has been prohibited during the ongoing state of public emergency.
It warned that anyone found contravening the ban would be arrested and liable to a fine or prison sentence.
The move was necessitated by the fact that COVID-19 – the disease caused by the coronavirus – is a respiratory disease that mostly affects the lungs and that the smoking of cigarettes and related products would make the response to the virus difficult, the government said.
KO/jn/APA