President Hage Geingob yesterday announced that the government has commenced work on precautionary measures and adjustments that will allow for the gradual reopening of borders for public travel.
Currently, Namibia is only open for the transportation of goods. This comes after the Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN) said that although Namibia received praise for jump-starting the local tourism sector by opening hospitality establishments, it wants to see an orderly and responsible reopening of the country’s borders to reinvigorate the crucial sector. Namibia adopted four stages with corresponding measures to gradually ease lockdown restrictions. Namibia on Tuesday migrated to stage three under moderate precautions, while the final phase, which is stage four, is expected to come into effect on 30 June.
“This will introduce a new normal that could last to the end of the state of emergency or beyond. The imminent reopening of border points for public travel presents a key vulnerability. While life and business will have to return to some semblance of normality, this is a process we intend to manage carefully,” Geingob said.
However, Geingob who delivered his state of the nation address in the National Assembly yesterday said every Namibian has a personal responsibility to complement government efforts, by adhering to the health protocols.
He cautioned that if social and physical distancing protocols are relaxed too soon, Namibia risks secondary ‘waves’ of infection.
“Our people residing in informal settlements are hard-pressed to abide by the regulations and are less able to insulate themselves against the economic effects of the lockdown measures. The severe restrictions were warranted as pre-emptive measures to slow the spread of the disease and earn government time to strengthen the public health sector’s capacity to adequately respond,” Geingob stated.
Namibia has 25 confirmed Covid-19 cases, 16 recoveries and nine active cases. There has been no Covid-19 related to death in the country to date. Infections flattened at 16 cases with no new cases reported for 45 days, until an uptick in new infections began from 20 May.
“We are managing the virus in Namibia, to this end,” Geingob said.
The President thanked Namibians, particularly the healthcare workers and law enforcement agencies at the front line of the Covid-19 outbreak response for their
diligence.