ONGWEDIVA – Ten police officers, stationed at Eenhana in the Ohangwena region, are amongst the 12 people who tested positive for coronavirus at the northern town on Sunday.
The ten police officers were reportedly in contact with a colleague who was buried at the town over a week ago.
The 49-year-old woman is the first victim to have succumbed to the virus at the town.
Ohangwena police regional commander, Commissioner Elizabeth Sibolile confirmed the ten positive cases yesterday.
Sibolile said the new cases include officers stationed at the police headquarters and the Eenhana police station.
The regional commander said the offices have already been fumigated and the police is fully operational.
The commander could not ascertain whether the police officers who tested positive were in contact with the police officer who was buried at the town.
“That I do not know, but there is a lot of interaction [among] the officers,” said Sibolile.
By Sunday, the Ohangwena region had recorded a cumulative 68 confirmed cases.
Regional health director John Hango said the Okongo hospital currently has eight beds while the Engela district hospital has 70 beds for isolation purposes.
Hango said a prefabricated isolation facility is also planned for Eenhana.
At the moment, all Eenhana cases are being sent for isolation at Engela hospital.
“Private facilities are also identified in the Oshikango area, as well as Eenhana town to accommodate patients for isolation purposes if patients can no longer fit in the hospitals,” said Hango.
The director said the biggest challenge in the region at the moment is people not adhering to the preventative measures in place.
He said another challenge is gatherings, saying people are not sticking to the maximum ten persons as prescribed in the regulations.
“The gatherings are too many and they are full of people,” said Hango.
– nashipala@nepc.com.na