Namibian ambassador to France, Albertus Aochamub has recovered from Covid-19 and has been discharged from hospital in France.
The ambassador spent 15 days in hospital since his admission on 16 March after he tested positive for a ‘mild’ bout of coronavirus.
Ambassador Aochamub was discharged from hospital this week on Tuesday.
In an interview last week, Aochamub said he has responded well to treatment throughout his admission in hospital and has not developed any secondary infections.
His treatment entailed a concoction of antiviral drugs and a bout of antibiotics to treat pneumonia.
The ambassador could not say how and where he contracted the virus though it is contracted from contaminated surfaces and droplets from infected person.
On 11 March, Aochamub developed a high fever and terrible stomach cramps. He was not coughing or had a sore throat neither was he sneezing. He said doctors could not test him initially when he went to the hospital on 13 March because the symptoms were not typical of the virus and they checked for everything else like malaria.
Aochamub told New Era on the evening of Sunday 15 March, his fever hit 41 degrees celsius and that is when he went back to the hospital and insisted on being tested where after confirmation was received on the Monday and he was subsequently committed to the hospital.
Aochamub said the recommendation was that he should stay under quarantine for a period of 14 days and in his case he spent 15 days in hospital already but it was further recommended the ambassador stays another eight days of self-quarantine at home.
“ I will continue to keep the social distance of one metre and wear a mask when I would go out into a public space. Of course, France is under lockdown so there will be no venture out of the prescribed one-kilometre radius of my house.” Aochamub added he will self-isolate and always wash his hands with soap. Asked when he will be tested for Covid-19 again, the ambassador responded test kits are not enough in any country of the world, so they are only reserved for those that show symptoms of a cough, sore throat, fever, running stomach and general flu symptoms that are persistent. He said no country is testing people who don’t display symptoms. This is to spare the limited resources for those in need.
“As a parting comment, may I say that this disease is very scary when you get it. There will be days when you will feel that you will die and the pain is unbearable. Medical staff overstretched and all the drugs are experimental with vaccines far off in the distant future,” remarked Aochamub.
His advice to people who are healthy is to follow the government instructions to stay healthy. “I can testify that you don’t want it and we don’t need any more causalities,” Aochamub stressed.
– sikela@nepc.com.na