A SECOND health professional is among the three new positive Covid-19 cases reported since Thursday.
The first health professional's results were confirmed positive on Thursday by health minister Kalumbi Shangula, who said she came into contact with case number three – a German national who has since recovered.
Shangula yesterday announced two new cases, bringing the country's confirmed positive cases to 16.
Meanwhile, three cases have recovered.
Speaking at the recently launched Covid-19 information centre yesterday, the health minister said the latest case to test positive involves a 46-year-old medical practitioner who travelled to South Africa.
He was tested on 30 March at the Robert Mugabe Clinic after complaining of a fever, chills, body aches and a sore throat.
On 4 April his results returned positive. The medical professional is in isolation and is reported to be in a stable condition.
The total number of Namibian citizens who have contracted the virus now stands at seven, inluding a permanent resident.
Shangula said case number 15 is a 31-year-old Namibian male who had contact with a friend from South Africa on 26 March.
“The friend has since returned to South Africa. This contact reported at the Robert Mugabe Clinic on 30 March complaining of a cough, body aches, a sore throat and shortness of breath. He was tested and his results returned positive on 4 April 2020,” the minister said.
This case, who is a teacher by profession, has been isolated and is in a satisfactory condition.
Shangula expressed worry over healthcare workers contracting Covid-19, saying these frontline workers are at risk globally, because when patients present with symptoms at health facilities, one may not know whether the person is infected or not.
“Employers must ensure health workers are well protected and taken care of by providing adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), and that they are well trained on the correct use thereof. Equally, healthcare workers are cautioned to take extra precautions and treat each patient as a high-risk case,” he said.
SAMPLES
The minister said to date 362 tests for Covid-19 have been conducted countrywide.
These have been submitted to laboratories locally and in South Africa for testing.
Of the 362 samples taken, 206 were submitted to the Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP) and 156 to PathCare, which sends them to South Africa.
NIP acting chief executive officer Dr David Uirab said on Saturday the institute has been able to release the results of all samples that have been submitted to them on the same day or the next.
Uirab said there is a lack of reagents used to test for the virus internationally, and the NIP has not been spared.
“Fortunately, we have been able to get the necessary supplies and continue testing all samples submitted to us. The turnaround time for samples submitted to us is between 12 and 48 hours. We have been able to maintain that so far,” he said, speaking at the Covid-19 information centre.
Uirab said the technology the NIP is currently using requires highly-trained scientists.
“The good thing is new technology is coming into the stream and in the last week alone a number of new reagents have been cleared internationally. That technology is also becoming available to us. We are expecting new deliveries of some of the new technology by the end of April. This would enable the NIP to decentralise tests,” he said.
CRIME RATE DROPS
Since the lockdown was introduced, gender-based violence (GBV) cases reported in the Khomas region slightly dropped from 44 cases from 21 to 27 March, to 39 cases from 28 March to 4 April.
Police head of crime prevention commissioner Christoph Nakanyala made these statistics available yesterday at the information centre.
Meanwhile, rape cases countrywide from 28 March to 4 April, stood at eight.
Nakanyala said housebreaking has also dropped since the introduction of the lockdown.
“This can be because people are at home and also because of the intensity of the operations by law enforcement agencies. Records indicate that between 21 and 27 March, 22 housebreaking cases were reported, while 12 cases were reported between 28 March and 4 April,” the commissioner said.
FOLLOWING ORDERS
Nakanyala said 98 people were issued fines for selling alcohol, 14 in connection with gatherings of more than 10 people, and 19 in connection with prohibited travelling.
“Regulation 11(1) Prohibition relating to the sale of alcohol, with 98 fines, has been the most difficult to implement or enforce. The staying at home regulation is also challenging, since we are still finding people roaming the streets. Funeral attendance is also challenging as people continue to gather mourning their loved ones,” Nakanyala said.
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