A Namibian health worker, who returned to the country from South Africa last month, has become the latest person to test positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed virus cases – for which there is no vaccine – to 25. Minister of health Dr Kalumbi Shangula yesterday announced Namibia has recorded a new Covid-19 positive case. He said a 32-year-old Namibian female health worker travelled to Cape Town on a bus towards the end of March and returned to Namibia by air on 29 May.
“She was put in quarantine upon arrival. She was tested for Covid-19 and the result came out positive. This is now case number 25. She has a running nose but, otherwise, her condition is satisfactory,” stated the minister. Currently, Namibia has 16 recoveries and nine active cases, while 3 970 tests have been conducted and 619 people remain in mandatory quarantine facilities across the country.
The health worker follows a sequence of positive cases recorded within a space of less than two weeks.
On Sunday, a 51-year-old man became a third person to have tested positive for Covid-19 at the coastal town of Walvis Bay. The first case is that of a truck driver who tested positive for Covid-19 at the coastal town. Since, Thursday, the town has been put under lockdown for even days.
The 51-year-old man’s case is linked to the second positive case recorded at the coastal town of Walvis Bay, as they are both crewmembers on the vessel that arrived on 5 May from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where it had delivered a consignment of fish and salt.
Shangula said the second positive case recorded at Walvis Bay among the crewmembers is still in intensive care unit (ICU) on a ventilator but in a stable condition.
“There is no new development in his condition since I briefed the nation yesterday [Sunday]. This is an imported case,” health minister stated. Shangula also announced the recoveries of case number one and two, who are the Romanian couple. The couple were the first cases of Covid-19 to be reported in Namibia in March. It has taken 79 days since the couple was diagnosed with Covid-19.
“They were our first two cases. The couple’s recoveries mark the end of the chapter involving the first 16 cases. It took 45 days before we recorded a new case. The response team is excited about this good news. We wish them well in their future endeavour,” Shangula noted.
– anakale@nepc.com.na